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R153  .R43  1 897     Biography  of  Ephraim 


RECAP 


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The  above  portrait  is  a  re-production  of  a  medallion  painting  on  ivory,  taken 
from  life  when  EPHRAIM  McDOWELL  ions  29  years  of  age  (1800),  by  a 
distinguished  artist  in  Edinburgh,  Scotland,  now  in  possession  of  Br.  EPHRAIM 
McDO  WELL'S  granddaughter,  Mrs.  MART  T.  VALENTINE. 

(Copyright  1897.  by  Mrs.  M.  T.  Valentine.) 


BIOGRAPHY 


ephraim  Mcdowell,  m.d. 


'THE  FATHER  OF  OVARIOTOMY.'- 


BY   HIS   GRANDDAUGHTER, 

MRS.  M.  T.  VALENTINE. 


WITH 

LIFE-SKETCHES   AND   PORTRAITS 

OF    PROMINENT 

MEMBERS  OF  THE  MEDICAL  PROFESSION. 


FIRST  EDITION. 


m 


NEW  YORK,  N.  Y., 

Mcdowell  publishing  company, 

24-26  West  Twenty- second  St. 
1897. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress  in  the  year  1897, 

By  MRS.  M.  T.  VALENTINE, 

In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington,  D.  C. 


DORNAN,  PRINTER, 
PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


TO  THE  MEDICAL  PROFESSION 

AND  TO   THE 

EARNEST    WORKERS    IN    THE    FIELD    OF    SURGERY 

WHO   REVERE  THE   MEMORY  OF 

ephraim  Mcdowell,  m.d. 

^fjis  SSorfi  is  Affectionately  %n$cxi&eb, 

BY  HIS   GRANDDAUGHTER, 

MRS.  M.  T.  VALENTINE. 


\ 


NOTE. 

IN  preparing  this  work  it  has  been  the  purpose  of  the  author  to  incor- 
porate life-sketches  and  portraits  of  as  many  followers  of  Dr.  Ephraim 
McDowell's  surgical  operations  as  she  could  readily  obtain,  within  a 
limited  time,  by  personal  interview,  irrespective  of  schools  or  sex,  as  all 
honor  him  alike,  and  the  theory  and  practice  of  surgery  and  gynaecology 
are  the  same  in  all  schools.  Therefore  she  did  not  deem  it  just  to  confine 
her  selection  of  contributors  to  any  one  school.  At  the  same  time,  for 
special  reasons,  she  has  included  in  this  work  a  few  prominent  members 
of  the  medical  profession,  of  both  sexes,  who  have  achieved  distinction  in 
other  branches  than  laparotomy. 

In  her  interviews  with  many  eminent  surgeons  and  physicians  through- 
out the  United  States  the  author  was  gratified  to  find  that  much  of  the 
antagonism  formerly  existing  between  the  different  schools,  and  toward 
lady  practitioners,  is  rapidly  disappearing,  showing  that  this  is  a  progressive 
age.  In  fact,  some  of  the  leading  gynaecologists  of  the  old  school  now 
consult  with  and  assist  operators  of  both  sexes  of  the  new  school,  as  is 
evidenced  in  some  of  the  life-sketches  contained  in  this  work.  They 
appreciate  the  fact  that  an  exchange  of  ideas  and  suggestions  from  those 
of  different  schools  is  worthy  of  acceptance. 

In  arranging  these  life-sketches  no  attempt  has  been  made  to  give  undue 
prominence  to  any  of  the  contributors,  for  which  reason  all  parts  of  the 
work  will  be  found  of  equal  interest. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  a  few  portraits  have  been  inserted  in  this  work 
without  life-sketches  of  physicians,  who,  after  having  given  their  orders, 
together  with  their  portraits  and  autographs,  failed  to  furnish  the  neces- 
sary material  for  their  life-sketches  before  the  work  had  gone  to  press, 
although  ample  time  was  allowed  them  to  do  so. 

Comparatively  few  persons  realize  the  length  of  time  required  to  pre- 
pare a  work  of  this  kind.  The  author  has  devoted  over  two  years  of  her 
life  to  the  completion  of  this  volume,  traveling  from  the  Atlantic  to  the 
Pacific  Ocean,  at  a  heavy  expense  and  the  sacrifice  of  her  personal  com- 
fort and  health,  to  obtain  these  portraits  and  the  material  necessary  to 
prepare  these  life-sketches,  which,  in  many  instances,  were  greatly  delayed. 
Thanking  the  profession  for  their  many  kindnesses  and  courtesies  ex- 
tended to  her,  she  trusts  that  her  efforts  to  furnish  them  with  a  work 
worthy  of  their  acceptance  will  be  appreciated. 


Civ) 


CONTENTS. 


Xlll 


PAGE 

King,  Willis  P. , 

M.D., 

Kansas  City,  Mo. 

I56 

Kirk,  Ellen  M.. 

(i  (< 

Cincinnati,  Ohio, 

3°4 

Kollock,  Cornelius, 

tt    t  ( 

Cheraw,  S.  C. 

360 

Kurtz,  Carl, 

11     C( 

Los  Angeles,  Cal. 

277 

Laplace,  Ernest, 

11    Cl 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 

264 

Le  Seure,  Oscar, 

(i    it 

Detroit,  Mich. 

180 

Lines,  Amelia  W. , 

k    it 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

217 

Longshore,  Hannah  E., 

"    " 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 

28 

Longyear,  Howard  W., 

it    tt 

Detroit,  Mich. 

18 

Ludlam,  Reuben, 

<i   it 

Chicago,  111. 

106 

Ludlam,  Reuben,  Jr., 

«    (i 

tt         a 

hi 

McLean  Malcolm, 

it    it 

New  York,  N.  Y. 

392 

McLean,  Mary  H., 

■  <   a 

St.  Louis,  Mo. 

101 

McNutTj  Sarah  J.. 

It    It 

New  York,  N.  Y. 

284 

Mackenzie,  Kenneth,  A.  J., 

it    (I 

Portland,  Ore. 

210 

Macrae,  Donald, 

te   it 

Council  Bluffs,  la. 

112 

Macrae,  Donald,  Jr., 

u    a 

ci           a        ii 

114 

Mann,  Matthew,  D., 

it    if 

Buffalo,  N.  Y. 

33 

Marcy,  Henry  0., 

it    <( 

Boston,  Mass. 

352 

Massey,  George  Betton, 

it    u 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 

205 

Mayfield,  William  H., 

a    it 

St.  Louis,  Mo. 

40 

Mergler,  Marie  J., 

it    a 

Chicago,  111. 

74 

Michael,  J.  Edwin, 

(<    it 

Baltimore,  Md. 

212 

Minard,  Eliza  J.  Chapin, 

it    a 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

230 

Muncie,  Edward  H., 

it    (t 

(.'               a       it 

142 

Muncie,  Libbie  Hamilton, 

it    a 

a              a       it 

139 

Munde,  Paul  F., 

it    tt 

New  York,  N.  Y. 

34 

Murphy,  John  B., 

ti    it 

Chicago,  111. 

227 

Newman,  Henry  Parker, 

n    tt 

Chicago,  111. 

300 

Noble,  Charles  P. , 

it    it 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 

126 

Noxon,  Mary  Woolsey, 

a    Ci 

New  York,  N.  Y. 

3°7 

Ostrom,  Homer  Irvin, 

it    a 

New  York,  X.  Y. 

159 

Page,  Richard  C.  M., 

tt    it 

New  York,  N.  Y. 

193 

Palmer,  George  H., 

tt    tt 

San  Francisco,  Cal. 

200 

Pancoast,  Joseph, 

it    it 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 

15 

Pancoast,  William  H., 

tt    it 

(i             it 

254 

Parish,  William  H., 

tt    it 

U                        tl 

177 

Penrose,  Charles  B., 

it    tt 

tt                              IC 

77 

XIV 


CONTENTS. 


Perkins,  George  W., 
Pettet,  Isabella  M. , 
Pinkerton,  Samuel  H., 
Pratt,  Edwin  Hartley, 
Richardson,  Ida  E., 
Richardson,  Tobias  Gibson, 
Riley,  Charles  H., 
Saltonstall,  Florence  N., 
Sayre,  Lewis  A., 
Seaman,  Louis  Livingston, 
Sellman,  William  A.  B., 
Sims,  J.  Marion, 
Skene,  Alexander  J.  C. 
Smith,  St.  Clair, 
Streeter,  John  W.f 
Strittmatter,  Isidor  Paul, 
Taylor,  Albert  Miles,  " 

Thomas,  Allen  Mason,  " 

Thomas,  Theo.  Gaillard,       " 
Tucker,  Ervin  Alden,  " 

Valentine,  Mrs.  M.  T.,  author, 


M.D., 

tt    tt 


cc    c< 
cc    It 


Ogden,  Utah, 

New  York,  N.  Y. 

Salt  Lake  City,  Utah, 

Chicago,  111. 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 

New  Orleans,  La. 

Baltimore,  Md. 

San  Francisco,  Cal. 

New  York,  N.  Y. 
n         n      a    it 

Baltimore,  Md. 
New  York,  N.  Y. 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 
New  York,  N.  Y. 
Chicago,  111. 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 
Oakland,  Cal. 
New  York,  N.  Y. 


Vander  Veer,  Albert, 
Vondergoltz,  Eric  A. 
Von  Hoffman,  C. , 
Ward,  James  W., 
Warder,  William  H., 
Werner,  Marie  B., 
Wight,  Jarvis  Sherman, 
Wilcox,  De  Witt  G., 
Wilson,  H.  Parke  Curtis, 
Wylie,  Walker  Gill, 


New  York,  N.  Y. 
M.D.,  Albany,  N.  Y. 

New  York,  N.  Y. 
San  Francisco,  Cal. 
San  Francisco,  Cal. 
Philadelphia,  Pa., 


a    a 
tt    it 


<<    tt 

it    a 


tt    it 
it   cc 


Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 
Buffalo,  N.  Y. 
Baltimore,  Md. 
New  York,  N.  Y. 


IQI 

363 
184 

133 
89 

333 
24 

115 
291 

316 

400 

383 
272 
198 
319 
208 
279 

369 

274 

xv 

344 
228 
176 
229 
148 
168 
261 
116 
26 
354 


Sims,  J.  Marion,  statue 405 

Addresses  delivered  October  20,  1894,  in  Bryant  Park, 
New  York,  N.  Y.,  on  the  unveiling  of  the  Statue  of 
Dr.  J.  Marion  Sims,  by  George  F.  Shrady,  M.D.,  and 

Paul  F.  Munde,  M.D 405 

Eloquent  tribute  to  Ephraim  McDowell,  M.D  ,  by  Joseph 

Eastman,  M.D.,  LL.D 416 


PREFACE 


Since  the  publication  of  the  previous  edition  of  my 
work,  The  Biography  of  Ephraim  McDowell,  M.D.,  I  re- 
peatedly have  been  asked  to  include  in  this  edition  a  brief 
sketch  of  my  own  family  history,  also  facts  and  entertain- 
ing incidents  relating  to  Dr.  McDowell  which  I  have  more 
recently  gathered. 

My  father,  George  Young,  was  a  large  planter  in  Shelby 
County,  Kentucky,  and  for  many  years  was  president  and 
owner  of  the  Ashland  Bank  of  Kentucky,  and  engaged 
in  many  other  enterprises.  He  possessed  sterling  traits  of 
character,  indomitable  energy,  was  shrewd  in  business, 
and  strictly  honorable  in  all  his  dealings.  He  was  a 
devoted  father  to  his  three  children,  Ephraim  McDowell 
(now  deceased),  George  Wallace,  and  Mary  Thompson 
(the  Author),  and  so  idolized  his  wife  that  after  her 
decease  he  remained  a  widower  until  his  death  in  1874. 

My  mother  was  the  favorite  daughter  of  Dr.  Ephraim 
McDowell,  and  was  named  "  Mary  Thompson,"  by  request 
of  Lord  Thompson,  an  English  nobleman,  upon  whose 
wife  Dr.  McDowell  did  Caesarean  section  in  England. 
Lord  Thompson  was  so  grateful  to  Dr.  McDowell  for 
saving  both  mother  and  child  that  he  made  him  promise 
to  name  his  next  issue  (if  another  child  was  born  to  him) 
"Thompson,"  whether  male  or  female.  This  next  issue 
was  my  mother,  after  whom  I  was  named. 

(v) 


vj  PREFACE. 

Mary  Thompson  McDowell  was  married  to  her  cousin, 
George  Young,  Jr.,  son  of  George  Young,  a  planter  resid- 
ing near  Lebanon,  Kentucky.  She  was  a  woman  of  great 
nobleness  of  character,  and  was  celebrated  not  only  for 
her  exquisite  loveliness  of  form  and  face,  but  also  for  her 
great  generosity  and  sympathy  for  those  in  trouble  and 
affliction. 

A  remarkable  fact  in  the  genealogy  of  the  author  is 
that  both  of  her  grandmothers'  maiden  names  were  "Sarah 
Shelby."  One  was  the  daughter  of  Isaac  Shelby,  the  first 
Governor  of  Kentucky,  of  "  King's  Mountain"  fame,  and 
the  other  was  the  daughter  of  Moses  Shelby,  his  brother, 
who  was  massacred  by  the  Indians  in  the  early  history 
of  Kentucky.  A  crude  rock  monument  is  erected  to  his 
memory  near  Lexington,  Kentucky. 

Sarah  Shelby,  the  daughter  of  Governor  Isaac  Shelby, 
was  married  to  Dr.  Ephraim  McDowell.  She  was  a  woman 
of  rare  intellect,  and  wrote  many  beautiful  poems,  none  of 
which  were  ever  published. 

Sarah  Shelby,  the  daughter  of  Moses  Shelby,  was  a  gen- 
tle, unassuming,  lovely  character,  and  was  married  to 
George  Young,  Sr.,  my  grandfather,  which  made  my  own 
father  and  mother  cousins  once  removed. 

In  the  first  volume  of  The  Biography  of  Ephraim 
McDowell,  M.D.,  on  page  185,  will  be  found  an  incident 
in  his  life  related  by  the  late  Dr.  J.  D.  Jackson,  of  Dan- 
ville, Kentucky,  who  devoted  much  time  during  his  latter 
days  in  gathering  facts  relative  to  Dr.  McDowell,  for 
whose  character  and  works  he  had  great  veneration.  I  re- 
produce it  here  for  the  gratification  of  those  who  may  not 
have  read  it. 


PREFACE.  vjj 

"In  the  summer  of  1822  McDowell  made  a  horseback 
journey  of  some  hundreds  of  miles  into  middle  Tennessee, 
and  performed  ovariotomy  in  his  usual  way,  with  success, 
upon  a  Mrs.  Overton,  who  resided  near  the  'Hermitage,' 
the  residence  of  the  late  President  Jackson. 

"  Mrs.  Overton  was  enormously  obese,  and  he  had  to 
cut  through  four  inches  of  fat  upon  the  abdomen.  The 
only  assistance  he  had  in  the  operation,  as  we  have  been 
informed,  was  from  General  Jackson  and  a  Mrs.  Priestly. 

"  General  Jackson  seems  to  have  been  greatly  impressed 
with  Dr.  McDowell,  and  had  him  go  to  his  house  and  re- 
move a  large  tumor  growing  from  the  neck  and  shoulders 
of  one  of  his  men. 

"Dr.  McDowell  charged  for  his  operation  upon  Mrs. 
Overton  $500,  but  the  husband,  with  a  commendable 
generosity,  gave  a  check  upon  one  of  the  Nashville  banks 
for  $1500,  which,  upon  the  Doctor  presenting  for  pay- 
ment and  discovering  the  presumed  error  for  the  first  time, 
sent  a  messenger  back  to  Colonel  Overton  to  have  it  cor- 
rected; but  that  gentleman  replied  that,  far  from  a  mistake, 
he  felt  that  he  had  not  even  then  made  a  full  compensation 
for  the  great  service  which  Dr.  McDowell  had  rendered." 

Since  this  incident  appeared  in  print  I  have  learned 
from  my  aunt,  Mrs.  James  Deaderick,  now  living  in  Chatta- 
nooga, Tennessee — the  only  surviving  child  of  Dr.  Mc- 
Dowell— that  Colonel  Overton,  in  addition  to  the  $1500 
he  gave  to  Dr.  McDowell  as  a  fee,  also  presented  him  with 
an  elegant  carriage,  a  span  of  Kentucky-blooded  horses, 
and  two  valuable  colored  servants,  coachman  and  foot- 
man, as  an  additional  testimonial  to  show  his  great  appre- 
ciation of  Dr.  McDowell's  operation. 


viii  PREFACE. 

During  a  visit  I  made  to  Mrs.  Deaderick  (in  1892)  she 
related  many  interesting  incidents  in  the  life  of  her  father, 
Dr.  Ephraim  McDowell,  among  which  are  the  following : 

For  many  years  her  father  had  in  his  employ  a  Scotch 
gardener  who,  unfortunately,  was  addicted  to  having  regu- 
lar drunken  sprees,  causing  Dr.  McDowell  to  frequently 
discharge  him,  and  as  often  to  reinstate  him,  until  finally 
forbearance  ceased  to  be  a  virtue,  and  Dr.  McDowell  in- 
formed him  that  if  he  ever  was  again  found  intoxicated  he 
would  be  discharged  once  for  all  time  to  come.  The 
Scotchman  plead  for  another  trial  and  promised  to  reform 
from  his  drinking  habits,  and,  characteristic  of  his  race,  he 
faithfully  kept  his  promise  and  became  a  sober  man.  His 
wife,  to  show  her  gratitude  to  Dr.  McDowell  for  having 
influenced  her  husband  to  reform,  wove  a  most  beautiful 
bedspread  of  honey-comb  pattern,  which,  when  completed 
after  great  labor,  she  presented  to  the  Doctor.  I  had  the 
gratification  of  sleeping  under  this  bedspread,  which  is 
now  nearly  a  century  old,  and  was  taken  by  my  aunt  from 
a  trunk  where,  for  many  years,  it  has  been  kept  in  a  state 
of  perfect  preservation  with  many  other  relics  of  her 
father. 

Dr.  McDowell  retained  the  Scotchman  in  his  employ 
until  his  death,  and  then  had  him  interred  in  the  family 
burying-ground  at  beautiful  "  Cambiskenneth." 

I  mention  this  incident  to  show  the  kind,  benevolent 
disposition  of  Dr.  McDowell  and  the  almost  clannish  feel- 
ing displayed  toward  the  Scotchman. 

Another  incident  related  by  Mrs.  Deaderick  was  the 
heroism  displayed  by  Dr.  McDowell  when  he  performed 
the  first  ovariotomy : 


PREFACE.  JX 

When  it  became  known  what  he  was  about  to  undertake 
an  excited  mob  gathered  outside  the  office  of  Dr.  Mc- 
Dowell. A  rope  was  placed  over  a  limb  of  a  tree,  ready- 
to  hang  him  if  the  operation  proved  unsuccessful,  In 
fact  the  excitement  was  so  great  that  the  leaders  of  the 
mob  wanted  to  break  in  the  door  of  his  office,  where  the 
ovariotomy  was  about  to  be  performed,  and  lynch  Dr. 
McDowell  for  undertaking  such  an  operation,  but  were  re- 
strained by  the  sheriff,  who  came  to  his  rescue,  and  thus 
enabled  Dr.  McDowell  to  give  to  the  world  an  operation, 
before  unknown,  which  saved  not  only  one  life,  but  shall 
continue  to  save  human  lives  throughout  all  coming  ages. 

In  connection  with  this  incident  I  wish  to  correct  an 
erroneous  impression  which  several  physicians  seem  to 
have  in  regard  to  Mrs.  Crawford,  upon  whom  Dr.  Ephraim 
McDowell  performed  this  first  "ovariotomy,"  many  sup- 
posing that  she  was  a  colored  woman.  The  facts  are  that 
she  was  a  refined  and  cultivated  white  lady,  the  wife  of  a 
prosperous  planter  living  in  Green  County,  Kentucky. 

Mrs.  Crawford  lived  thirty- two  years  after  the  operation, 
and  had  three  children  born  to  her,  one  son  and  two 
daughters.  The  son  met  with  a  tragic  death.  He  was  at 
one  time  a  candidate  for  the  office  of  Mayor  of  Louisville, 
Kentucky,  and  owing  to  some  political  difficulties  he  was 
fatally  shot  by  a  friend  of  his  opponent,  in  a  street  alter- 
cation, during  the  campaign. 

Before  closing  I  wish  to  thank  my  many  friends  in  the 
medical  profession  for  their  co-operation  and  interest  in 
the  preparation  and  completion  of  this  work.  It  has  been 
a  matter  of  family  pride  and  labor  of  love  in  my  under- 
taking to  thus  perpetuate  the  memory  of  my  grandfather, 


x  PREFACE. 

Dr.  McDowell,  and  I  only  regret  that  the  magnitude  of 
this  enterprise  and  the  necessity  of  issuing  the  work  with- 
out further  delay  prevent  my  communicating  with  many 
others  in  the  profession  whom  I  would  like  to  have  incor- 
porated in  the  work. 

THE   AUTHOR. 


CONTENTS. 


McDowell,  Ephraim,  M.D.     Portrait.         Frontispiece. 

Note.     By  the  Author iv 

Preface.     By  the  Author v 

Introduction.    By  Cornelius  Kollock,  M.D.,  Cheraw,  S.  C.  xv 

LIFE-SKETCHES  AND  PORTRAITS  OF 


Atlee,  Washington  L.,          M.D. 

,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

i 

Ashby,  Thomas  A.,                   "  " 

Baltimore,  Md. 

20 

Ayers,  Edward  A.,                    "  " 

New  York,  N.  Y. 

297 

Baker,  William  H.,                 "  " 

Boston,  Mass. 

97 

Bangs,  Frederick  H.,             "  " 

San  Jose,  Cal. 

239 

Barnard,  James  Sherman,      "  " 

Baltimore,  Md. 

64 

Barnett,  Lissa  M.,                   "  " 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

269 

Benjamin,  Dowling,                 "  " 

Camden,  N.  J. 

310 

Betts,  B.  Franklin,                 "  " 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 

96 

Bicknell,  Frederick  T.,         '•  " 

Los  Angeles,  Cal. 

164 

Boldt,  Herman  J.,                    "  " 

New  York,  N.  Y. 

374 

Boskowitz,  George  W.,          "  " 

U                 11            ,i        K 

242 

Boskowitz,  Herman,               "  " 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

240 

Bovee,  John  Wesley,               "  " 

Washington,  D.  C. 

59 

Brewster,  Cora  Belle,          "  '' 

Baltimore,  Md. 

202 

Brewster,  Flora  A.,               "  " 

'*             " 

152 

Brown,  M.  Belle,                    "  " 

New  York,  N.  Y. 

185 

Browne,  Bennet  Bernard,     "  " 

Baltimore,  Md. 

73 

Bryant,  Edgar  Reeve,            "  " 

San  Francisco,  Cal. 

219 

Byford,  Henry  T.,                    "  " 

Chicago,  111. 

61 

Byford,  William  Heath,       "  " 

"         " 

8 

Carleton,  Edmund,                 "  " 

New  York,  N.  Y. 

51 

Carpenter,  Alfred  Clark,   "  " 

.,         „      u 

266 

Carpenter,  Julia  W.,             "  " 

Cincinnati,  Ohio, 

294 

Carstens,  J.  Henry,                 "  " 

Detroit,  Mich. 

34S 

Chambers,  P.  Flewellen,       "  " 

New  York,  N.  Y. 
(xi) 

87 

Xll 


CONTENTS. 


Clark,  Byron  G.,  M.D., 

Cleaves,  Margaret  A.,  "  " 

Coffman,  Victor  H.,  "  " 

Cowles,  Josiah  Evans,  "  " 

Craig,  William  Bedford,  "  " 

Crowell,  Homer  Cutler,  "  " 

Davis,  Josephine  Griffith,  "  " 
Davis,  W.  E.  B., 

Dew,  James  Harvie,  "  " 

Doughty,  Francis  E.,  "  " 

Drysdale,  Thos.  Murray,  "  " 

Dudley,  Augustus  Palmer,  "  " 
Duer,  Edward  L., 

Eastman,  Joseph,  "  " 

Emmet,  Bache  McEvers,  "  " 

Etheridge,  James  H.,  "  " 

Ferguson,  Alexander  H.,  "  " 

Fowler,  Edward  Payson,  "  " 

Fry,  Henry  D.,  '*  " 

Geiger,  Jacob,  "  " 

goelet,  augustin  h.,  "  " 

Goffe,  J.  Riddle,  "  " 

Goldspohn,  Albert,  "  " 

Gross,  Samuel  D.,  "  " 

Guernsey,  Egbert,  "  " 

Hallock,  Lewis,  "  " 

Harrison,  George  Tucker,  "  " 

Hartley,  Frank,  "  " 

Henrotin,  Fernand,  "  " 

Hitchcock,  William  W.,  "  " 

Hunt,  Joseph  Hill,  "  " 

Jacobi,  Mary  Putnam,  "  " 

Janvrin,  Joseph  E. ,  "  " 

Jewett,  Charles,  "  " 

Johnson,  Joseph  Taber,  "  " 

Keller,  Elizabeth  C,  "  " 

Kellogg,  John  Harvey,  "  " 

Kelly,  Howard  A.,  "  " 


New  York,  N.  Y. 

93 

a         a      a     i< 

326 

Omaha,  Neb. 

189 

Los  Angeles,  Cal. 

181 

Denver,  Col. 

196 

Kansas  City,  Mo. 

273 

New  York,  N.  Y. 

396 

Birmingham,  Ala. 

377 

New  York,  N.  Y. 

62 

(<         (<      «     ■< 

57 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 

43 

New  York,  N.  Y. 

366 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 

224 

Indianapolis,  Ind. 

34i 

New  York,  N.  Y. 

i°3 

Chicago,  111. 

171 

Chicago,  111. 

281 

New  York,  N.  Y. 

215 

Washington,  D.  C. 

47 

St.  Joseph,  Mo. 

362 

New  York,  N.  Y. 

371 

(I              U          i(        u 

321 

Chicago,  111. 

145 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 

289 

New  York,  N.  Y. 

357 

New  York,  N.  Y. 

257 

((              u          u        u 

380 

■(             n         a       n 

302 

Chicago,  111. 

173 

Los  Angeles,  Cal. 

243 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

245 

New  York,  N.  Y. 

251 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y.  150 

Washington,  D.  C.  32 

Boston,  Mass.  53 

Battle  Creek,  Mich.  66 

Baltimore,  Md.  118 


INTRODUCTION. 


In  paying  this  tribute  to  the  illustrious  Ephraim 
McDowell,  I  feel  that  he  needs  no  praise  of  mine.  His 
eulogy  has  been  pronounced  by  others,  his  life-history 
has  been  faithfully  recounted,  and  the  man  himself  has 
been  made  known  to  us  by  a  devoted  granddaughter. 
This  only  would  I  say :  that  rare  intelligence  and  benevo- 
lence, undaunted  moral  courage,  wonderful  nerve,  great 
professional  skill,  and  lofty  Christian  character  were  so 
blended  in  him  as  to  make  him  one  of  the  world's  greatest 
benefactors. 

While  reading  the  biographies  of  the  great  and  good  we 
are  apt  to  feel  that  we  would  like  to  know  more  of  those 
whose  loyalty  to  a  revered  memory  has  shown  itself  in  such 
labors  of  love  and  has  enabled  us  to  share  their  admira- 
tion and  respect. 

Thus  it  is  that  I  record  some  facts  relating  to  Mrs. 
Mary  Thompson  Valentine,  the  granddaughter  and  biog- 
rapher of  Dr.  Ephraim  McDowell.  Born  in  Shelby  County, 
Kentucky,  the  descendant  of  McDowells,  Shelbys,  and 
Youngs,  she  is  connected  with  many  distinguished  families 
in  the  South,  and  has  the  characteristics  of  a  Southern 
lady, 

Mrs.  Valentine  prepared  the  first  edition  of  her  work, 
The  Biography  of  Ephraim  McDowell,  M.  D.,  at  the  special 
request  of  several  eminent  members  of  the  medical  pro- 

(XV) 


xvi  INTRODUCTION. 

fession.  Her  great  reverence  for  his  noble  character  and 
cherished  love  for  the  memory  of  her  deceased  mother 
(who  died  during  Mrs.  Valentine's  infancy),  together  with 
her  earnest  desire  to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  her  grand- 
father, combined  with  a  family  pride,  caused  her  to  make 
many  sacrifices  to  successfully  accomplish  this  undertaking. 
'  t  that  time  she  was  the  widow  of  Mr.  William  Riden- 
baugh,  who  was  a  very  prominent  and  much-respected 
citizen  of  St.  Joseph,  Missouri,  for  forty-five  years.  He 
founded,  edited,  and  was  the  owner  of  the  St.  Joseph 
Gazette  for  over  thirty  years,  and  held  many  important 
official  positions  in  that  city,  being  universally  respected 
and  beloved. 

In  1890  Mrs.  Ridenbaugh  was  happily  married  to  Mr. 
Valentine,  a  descendant  of  one  of  the  old  Knickerbocker 
families  of  New  York  City,  who  for  many  years  occu- 
pied a  prominent  position  as  head  of  a  large  importing 
commission  house  in  that  city,  and  whose  knowledge  and 
of  the  book-publishing,  paper,  printing,  and  engraving 
business  has  enabled  him  to  be  of  great  assistance  to  her 
in  the  publication  of  her  work. 

As  a  fit  ending  to  this  brief  introduction,  I  wish  to  con- 
gratulate Mrs.  Valentine  on  the  completion  of  her  noble 
task.  The  work,  in  its  present  form,  will  doubtless  meet 
the  approval  of  the  medical  profession,  while  to  her  it  will 
prove  a  source  of  the  purest  satisfaction,  inasmuch  as,  in 
its  pages,  her  honored  grandfather  will  live  again. 

CORNELIUS  KOLLOCK,  M.D. 


^//LlyJor^  «£    .^feSST 


WASHINGTON  LEMUEL  ATLEE,    M.D., 

PHILADELPHIA,    PA. 

Dr.  Washington  Lemuel  Atlee  was  born  at  Lancaster, 
Pennsylvania.,  February  22,  1808.  He  was  a  descendant 
of  an  old  English  family  which  reached  distinction  very 
early  in  the  history  of  England. 

William  Atlee,  of  Ford-Hook  House,  England,  came  to 
America  in  1734  as  the  secretary  of  Lord  Howe.  His 
son,  the  Hon.  William  Augustus  Atlee,  was  one  of  the 
Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Pennsylvania,  and  Chair- 
man of  the  Committee  of  Safety  in  the  War  of  the  Revo- 
lution. He  left  several  children,  among  whom  was  Wil- 
liam Pitt  Atlee,  a  lawyer,  who  married  Miss  Light,  the 
daughter  of  Major  John  Light,  an  officer  in  the  Revolu- 
tionary Army.  They  had  six  children,  of  whom  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch  was  the  youngest.  When  he  had  reached 
the  age  of  seven  years  his  father  died,  leaving  him  under 
the  care  of  his  grandparents.  While  with  them  he  con- 
tinued at  school,  pursuing  the  ordinary  English  studies 
until  he  was  fourteen  years  old,  when,  contrary  to  his  own 
wishes,  he  was  placed  in  a  store. 

His  dissatisfaction  with  a  commercial  life  increased  with 
time,  but  he  bore  with  it  for  fifteen  months,  when,  deter- 
mining to  leave  the  business,  he  informed  his  oldest  brother, 
Dr.  John  Light  Atlee,  of  his  wish  to  study  medicine.  See- 
ing that  he  was  thoroughly  in  earnest,  his  brother  agreed 
to  aid  and  direct  him  in  his  studies.  Thus  encouraged  he 
worked  with  ardor,  and  with  the  aid  of  tutors  supplied  the 
deficiency  of  an  early  classical  training,  studying  at  the 

VOL.  II.  —  I.  I 


4  DR.  WASHINGTON  LEMUEL  ATLEE. 

the  honor  of  being  the  first  to  perform  ovariotomy,  he 
says:  "  On  the  29th  of  June,  1843,  mv  brother  performed 
ovariotomy.  This  was  the  first  time  that  both  ovaries  were 
removed.  Being  associated  with  him  in  the  case,  I  com- 
menced studying  the  literature  of  the  operation,  and  soon 
realized  the  bold  and  important  step  taken  thirty-four 
years  before  by  McDowell,  of  Kentucky."  1 

Dr.  Washington  L.  Atlee  performed  his  first  ovariotomy 
March  29,  1844,  on  a  married  lady  sixty-one  years  of  age, 
residing  on  the  banks  of  the  Chicquesalunga,  Lancaster 
County.  It  proved  fatal.  His  second  operation  was  per- 
formed in  the  city  of  Lancaster,  August  28,  1844,  on  an 
unmarried  lady,  twenty-four  years  of  age.  She  recovered. 
The  public  record  of  the  case  contains  these  words :  "I 
pledge  myself  to  the  profession  to  treat  this  subject  in  all 
truth  and  candor;  to  falsify,  omit,  or  withhold  nothing; 
and  to  write  down  errors,  if  such  there  be,  in  honesty  and 
without  fear — taking  censure  when  deserved.  In  the  de- 
cision of  a  matter  of  such  weight  to  humanity,  personal 
sacrifices  ought  to  be  utterly  disregarded.  If  this  opera- 
tion is  to  be  established  it  must  be  on  correct  statements ; 
if  it  fail  on  such  testimony,  it  fails  justly  and  forever. 
But  if  its  establishment  be  attempted  on  falsified  reports 
and  withheld  facts,  then  human  life  must  fall  a  sacrifice  to 
personal  and  professional  dishonesty,  and  the  effort  must 
necessarily  die,  covered  with  a  mantle  of  human  gore. 
Let  the  question,  therefore,  be  met  as  it  ought  to  be,  and 
its  history  be  a  record  of  truth."2  This  pledge  was  made 
thirty  years  ago,  and  has  been  faithfully  carried  out.  The 
result  is  known. 

This  will  show  clearly  the  status  of  the  operation  and 
the  unmerited  opprobrium  visited  upon  those  who  had  the 
temerity  to  perform  it  at  that  early  day.     From  bitter  ex- 

1  A  Retrospect  of  the  Struggles  and  Triumphs  of  Ovariotomy  in 
Philadelphia,  etc.,  by  Washington  L.  Atlee,  M.D. 

2  Ibid. 


DR.  WASHINGTON  LEMUEL  ATLEE. 


5 


perience  few,  indeed,  had  better  reason  to  know  than  he 
how  hard  it  was  to  convince  the  profession  that  it  was 
justifiable.  But  a  reward  was  in  store  for  a  struggle  of 
years  against  professional  prejudice ;  for  he  became  so 
identified  in  the  public  mind  with  ovariotomy  that,  after 
its  success  was  established,  his  services  were  in  demand  on 
every  side. 

His  third  operation — the  first  case  in  Philadelphia — was 
performed  on  the  15th  of  March,  1849.  "I*  was  l°ng 
before  thisrhowever,  that  I  found,  upon  moving  to  Phila- 
delphia, I  had  roused  up  a  hornet's  nest.  Ovariotomy  was 
everywhere  decried.  It  was  denounced  by  the  general 
profession,  in  the  medical  societies,  in  all  the  medical  col- 
leges, and  even  discouraged  by  the  majority  of  my  own 
colleagues.  I  was  misrepresented  before  the  medical  pub- 
lic, and  was  pointed  at  as  a  dangerous  man,  even  as  a 
murderer.  The  opposition  went  so  far  that  a  celebrated 
professor — a  popular  teacher  and  captivating  writer — in 
his  published  lectures  invoked  the  law  to  arrest  me  in  the 
performance  of  this  operation." 

From  all  parts  of  the  United  States  continually  arrived 
letters  urging  him  to  come  and  operate.  His  success  was 
great,  and  was  the  result  not  only  of  consummate  skill  and 
care  as  an  operator,  but  of  the  wonderful  diagnostic  tact 
he  never  failed  to  manifest. 

His  last  operation  was  performed  at  Sligo,  Clarion 
County,  Pa.,  May  31,  1878.  This  was  his  three  hundred 
and  eighty-seventh  case  of  ovariotomy. 

As  an  operator  he  was  cool  and  fully  prepared  for  all 
emergencies.  He  avoided  a  needless  array,  and  although 
having  a  full  reserve  of  instruments  used  but  few.  His 
friend,  Professor  Gross,  in  speaking  of  this  says:  "With 
the  knife  he  was,  in  his  particular  line,  facile  princeps. 
He  appreciated  the  aphorism  of  Desault,  that  simplicity  is 
the  perfection  of  an  operation.  He  rarely  used  more  than 
one  scalpel,  one  bistoury,  one  pair  of  forceps,  one  pair  of 


6  DR.  WASHINGTON  LEMUEL  ATLEE. 

scissors,  and  one  needle.  He  had  a  just  horror  of  display. 
The  duties  having  been  duly  assigned  to  his  assistants, 
everything  proceeded  as  silently  as  possible,  with  the  reg- 
ularity of  clockwork.  Always  self-possessed,  his  eye  never 
quailed,  his  hand  never  trembled."  There  was  a  remark- 
able originality  displayed  in  his  operations,  a  striking 
instance  of  which  may  be  seen  in  his  operation  for  the 
removal  of  uterine  fibroids. 

In  the  Report  on  Surgery,  in  1S50,  by  Professor  Mussey, 
he  says  :  "Of  all  the  achievements  of  modern  surgery,  we 
meet  with  none  more  striking  or  extraordinary  than  the 
operations  performed  by  Professor  Atlee  for  the  removal 
of  intra-uterine  fibrous  tumors." 

Professor  Pallen,  in  his  prize  essay  presented  to  the 
American  Medical  Association  in  1869,  says:  "In  1853 
Dr.  Washington  L.  Atlee  startled  the  profession  by  his 
method  of  heroically  attacking  uterine  tumors  with  the 
knife.  .  .  .  His  successes  were  numerous,  and  the 
ingenuity  of  his  devices  are  deserving  of  the  highest  com- 
mendation." And  Dr.  J.  Marion  Sims,  in  the  New  York 
Medical  Journal,  April,  1S74,  writes:  "The  name  of 
Atlee  stands  without  a  rival  in  connection  with  uterine 
fibroids.  His  operations  were  so  heroic  that  no  man  has 
as  yet  dared  to  imitate  him.  A  generation  has  passed 
since  he  gave  to  the  world  his  valuable  essay  on  the  sur- 
gical treatment  of  fibrous  tumors  of  the  uterus ;  but  it  is 
only  within  the  last  five  or  six  years  that  the  profession 
have  come  to  appreciate  the  great  truths  which  he  labored 
to  establish.  Meadows,  of  London,  and  Thomas,  of  New 
York,  have  each  achieved  splendid  results  in  this  direction, 
and  made  valuable  contributions  to  our  literature.  A  few 
isolated  cases  of  fibroid  enucleation  have  been  published 
by  others,  and  this  is  about  all  we  can  boast  of  since  Atlee 
first  led  the  way  for  us. ' ' 

He  was  the  first  to  indicate  clearly  the  importance  of 
tapping  as  a  means  of  diagnosis  in  obscure  cases  of  abdom- 


DR.  WASHINGTON  LEMUEL  ATLEE. 


7 


inal  dropsy,  and,  also,  the  first  to  point  out  the  true  value 
of  the  removed  fluids  for  the  same  purpose,  particularly  to 
differentiate  cysts  of  the  broad  ligament  and  fibro-cystic 
tumors  of  the  uterus  from  ovarian  tumors.  It  is  remark- 
able that,  with  so  little  leisure,  he  managed  to  perform  so 
much  clerical  labor ;  for  he  carried  on  an  extensive  cor- 
respondence, frequently  contributed  to  the  journals,  wrote 
an  octavo  volume  on  ovarian  tumors,  besides  essays  on 
subjects  connected  with  gynecology,  and  kept  full  notes 
of  all  important  cases,  recording  them  the  day  they 
occurred ;  nor  would  he  sleep  until  all  intended  work  of 
this  kind  had  been  accomplished. 

He  took  an  active  part  in  the  organization  of  the  Phila- 
delphia County  Medical  Society,  of  the  Medical  Society 
of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  and  of  the  American  Med- 
ical Association.  He  was,  also,  one  of  the  founders  of  the 
American  Gynecological  Society.  In  all  of  these  bodies 
he  retained  his  membership  until  his  death.  In  1874,  he 
was  President  of  the  Philadelphia  County  Medical  Society, 
and  in  1875,  President  of  the  Medical  Society  of  the  State 
of  Pennsylvania  and  Vice-President  of  the  American  Med- 
ical Association. 

That  his  interest  in  this  work  was  earnest  and  sincere 
was  well  seen  in  the  last  journey  which  he  took,  which  was 
to  attend  the  meeting  of  the  State  society  at  Pittsburg,  in 
May,  1878.  He  was  then  so  feeble  as  to  require  support 
in  walking,  and  so  emaciated  that  every  movement  was 
painful  to  him,  yet  he  endured  the  trying  journey  merely 
to  meet  them  once  more. 

When  he  felt  his  end  approaching,  the  time  of  which  he 
predicted,  he  showed  no  fear  of  death,  but  welcomed  it, 
not  only  as  a  relief  but  as  a  means  of  realizing  his  hopes 
as  a  Christian. 

"About  the  hour  of  eight  (which  he  himself 
Foretold  should  be  his  last), 
He  gave  his  honors  to  the  world  again, 
His  blessed  part  to  heaven,  and  slept  in  peace." 


8  DR.  WILLIAM  HE  A  TH  B  YFORD. 

In  this  sketch  no  allusion  has  been  made  to  his  more 
marked  personal  traits,  but  it  would,  indeed,  be  incom- 
plete if  it  failed  to  represent  that  he  was  a  most  devoted 
husband,  an  affectionate  father,  a  firm  and  warm  friend, 
and  a  thoroughly  conscientious,  honest,  and  truthful  man. 

He  died  September  7,  1878. 

[For  these  facts  I  am  indebted  to  a  memoir  of  him  pub- 
lished by  his  son-in-law,  Dr.  Thomas  M.  Drysdale,  in  the 
Af?ierican  Gynecological  Transactions  for  1879,  and  used 
with  his  consent. — The  Author.] 


WILLIAM   HEATH   BYFORD,  M.D., 

CHICAGO,    ILL. 

William  Heath  Byford  was  born  March  20,  181 7,  in 
the  hamlet  of  Eaton,  Preble  County,  Ohio.  Thus  the  year 
1 8 1 7  gives  us  the  point  of  departure  in  this  study.  What  was 
Ohio  in  181 7  ?  The  western  tier  of  counties  was  a  wilder- 
ness, broken  only  by  occasional  settlements.  This  was  the 
frontier  of  civilization.  Indiana  had  been  a  State  but  one 
year.  Illinois,  Michigan,  and  Wisconsin  were  parts  of  the 
great  Northwest  Territory.  Plato  said :  "That  to  know 
what  a  thing  is,  we  must  know  what  it  is  not ;  "  accepting 
the  teaching  of  that  wise  man,  I  must  use  negatives  mainly 
in  expressing  my  present  thought.  In  most  places  of  that 
region  the  forests  were  so  dense  that  the  sun's  rays  could 
not  penetrate  to  the  earth.  The  roads  were  not  improved, 
the  stumps  and  other  rubbish  had  not  been  removed  in  the 
isolated  clearings.  There  were  no  railroads,  no  telegraph 
lines,  there  were  no  electric  or  gas  lights ;  verily,  western 
Ohio  was  distinguished  for  the  absence  of  all  improvements 
which  we  think  are  essential  for  a  comfortable  existence. 
What  a  background  does  this  present  to  us,  on  which  to 
limn  the  outline  of  the  evolution  of  a  human  life  ! 


#-v/ 


DR.  WILLIAM  HEATH  BY  FORD.  g 

Some  have  emphasized  the  fact  that  the  father  of  William 
was  not  wealthy.  In  this  respect,  I  imagine  that  his  case 
was  not  peculiar.  In  the  small  communities  of  that  time, 
widely  separated  as  they  were  in  districts  wild  as  nature, 
he  was  rich  who  possessed  health,  habits  of  industry,  in- 
tegrity, and  the  indomitable  courage  to  look  unappalled 
into  the  future.  That  I  have  not  overdrawn  the  picture 
may  be  inferred  by  the  fact  that  while  William  was  still  in 
his  infancy  the  father  was  dissatisfied  with  the  location, 
and,  in  the  hope  of  improving  his  circumstances,  he  moved 
to  another  section  of  the  country,  also  new,  viz.,  the  Falls 
of  Ohio,  now  called  New  Albany.  And  again,  in  182 1,  he 
removed  to  Martin  County,  Ind.  Here  William  began  his 
career  as  a  scholar.  Here  he  had  the  advantages  to  be 
obtained  in  the  public  country  school  (whatever  they 
might  have  been). 

It  was  here  that  the  father,  Henry  T.  Byford,  died,  when 
William  was  nine  years  old.  This  bereavement  compelled 
William  to  leave  school  and,  at  this  tender  age,  devote  his 
time  and  strength  to  the  aid  of  the  widowed  mother. 

In  acquiring  his  education  I  am  not  aware  that  William 
ever  had  the  advantages  of  a  university,  a  literary  college, 
an  academy,  a  high  school,  or  even  the  district  school,  after 
he  was  nine  years  old. 

It  does  seem  that  these  were  hard  lines  for  the  boy  who 
was  to  become,  though  he  knew  it  not,  a  most  eminent 
physician  and  a  leader  of  the  profession  in  a  metropolitan 
city.  Some  who  have  had  the  advantages  which  Harvard 
or  Yale  could  offer  have,  in  their  life's  work,  accomplished 
less  than  did  this  orphan  boy. 

At  the  age  of  thirteen  years  he  was  apprenticed  to  a 
trade.  At  this  trade  he  worked  faithfully  for  six  years,  but 
he  devoted  the  spare  hours  to  study.  Of  his  success  as  a 
student,  under  these  circumstances,  you  shall  judge.  In 
four  years  he  had  acquired  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the 
English  language ;   he  knew  Latin,  Greek,  and  French. 


1Q  DR.  WILLIAM  HEATH  BYFORD. 

He  had  studied  natural  history,  physiology,  and  chemistry. 
At  this  period  he  determined  to  become  a  physician,  and 
he  applied  his  energies  to  study  with  such  success  that,  in 
1838,  he  presented  himself  to  the  Board  of  Commissioners 
authorized  by  the  statute  to  grant  licenses  to  practise.  He 
passed  a  satisfactory  examination  and  received  a  certificate 
testifying  that  he  was  qualified  to  practise  medicine  and 
surgery. 

He  began  the  practice  of  medicine  in  Owensville,  Ind., 
August  8,  1838.  In  1840  he  moved  to  Mt.  Vernon,  Ind. 
He  attended  medical  lectures  in  the  Ohio  Medical  College 
and  received  the  degree  of  Doctor  in  Medicine  in  1845. 

In  1847  ne  performed  the  Caesarean  section,  the  most 
daring  operation  known  to  surgery,  the  history  of  which 
he  wrote  and  published. 

From  this  time  forth  he  wrote  numerous  and  valuable 
papers  on  a  variety  of  medical  subjects  for  the  medical 
journals,  which  attracted  the  attention  of  the  profession 
throughout  the  country.  One  paper,  as  I  remember,  was 
of  unusual  interest,  and  elicited  a  great  deal  of  earnest 
discussion  by  the  profession.  It  was  on  "  Milk  Sickness," 
a  peculiar  disease.  The  mortality  was  so  great  from  this 
disease  that  it  was  called  by  the  historian  of  that  time  "a 
frightful  pestilence."  Its  etiology  was  probably  no  better 
understood  at  that  time  than  it  is  by  the  most  learned 
physicians  of  the  present  day.  I  write  from  memory,  and 
am  unable  to  give  Dr.  Byford's  views  of  this  disease, 
nor  can  I  indicate  the  publication  in  which  they  were 
printed. 

In  1850  he  was  appointed  Professor  of  Anatomy  in 
Evansville  Medical  College.  Two  years  later  he  was 
transferred  to  the  Chair  of  Theory  and  Practice  of  Medi- 
cine in  the  same  institution.  During  his  connection  with 
this  college  he  was  one  of  the  editors  of  the  Evansville 
Medical  Journal. 

He  was  elected  vice-president  of  the  American  Medical 


DR.   WILLIAM  HE  A  TH  B  YFORD.  1 1 

Association  in  May,  1857,  and  in  the  same  year  he  was 
chosen  to  fill  the  Chair  of  Obstetrics  and  Diseases  ofWomen 
and  Children  in  Rush  Medical  College. 

For  two  years  he  was* associate  editor  of  the  Chicago 
Medical  Journal.  After  two  years  he  retired  from  Rush 
Medical  College  and  united  with  other  gentlemen  in  or- 
ganizing and  establishing  the  Chicago  Medical  College. 
In  that  institution  he  filled  the  Chair  of  Obstetrics  and 
Diseases  of  Women  and  Children. 

He  was  a  member  of  the  American  Gynecological  So- 
ciety, and  in  1881  was  elected  its  president. 

Dr.  Byford  was  active  in  the  organization  of  the  Woman's 
Medical  College  of  Chicago,  of  which  he  was  its  president, 
and  to  his  personal  influence  and  his  valuable  work  as  one 
of  its  professors  that  institution  was  indebted  for  its  well- 
known  prosperity  and  acknowledged  usefulness. 

He  was  an  active  and  zealous  member  of  the  Chicago 
Medical  Society,  and  by  the  frequent  contribution  of  papers 
on  important  subjects,  and  by  his  participation  in  the  dis- 
cussions in  its  meetings,  he  did  much  in  raising  the  society 
to  great  usefulness. 

Dr.  Byford  was  requested  to  reorganize  the  Woman's 
Hospital  of  Chicago,  at  a  time  when  its  existence  was 
threatened.  He  soon  collected  the  forces  and  systematized 
the  work  in  a  manner  that  insured  its  permanence  and 
capacity  for  greater  usefulness.  By  his  indefatigable  exer- 
tions a  new,  substantial,  and  capacious  hospital  building  was 
erected.  The  benefits  to  the  sick  and  suffering  dispensed 
by  the  Women's  Hospital,  under  his  efficient  management, 
are  beyond  calculation. 

It  is  no  wonder  that  the  friends  of  this  hospital  were 
greatly  exercised  and  anxious  regarding  the  future  of  its 
usefulness  when  Prof.  W.  H.  Byford  was  stricken  down. 
Even  the  Board  of  Lady  Managers  seemed  not  to  realize, 
for  the  time  being,  that  there  was  still  connected  with  the 
medical  staff  another  Byford.     It  is  not  out  of  place  for 


1 2  DR.  WILLI  A  M  HE  A  TH  B  YFORD 

me  to  say  here  that  the  Woman's  Hospital  maintains  its 
high  grade  of  usefulness. 

Dr.  "Byford  was  the  prime  mover  in  the  organization  of 
the  Chicago  Gynecological  Society,  and  he  was  its  first 
president.  The  amount  and  quality  of  work  done  in  this 
society  will  compare  favorably  with  that  of  the  best  soci- 
eties known.  It  still  continues  to  produce  abundant  works 
of  the  highest  scientific  and  practical  value. 

He  was  a  life  member  of  the  British  Gynecological  So- 
ciety. 

I  have  alluded  to  the  fertility  of  Dr.  Byford's  pen,  but 
it  was  not  limited  to  the  production  of  contributions  to 
the  medical  journals.  In  1864  he  published  his  work  on 
Chronic  Inflammation  and  Displacements  of  the  Unimpreg- 
nated  litems.  In  passing,  I  note  that  this  was  the  first 
systematic  medical  work  published  by  a  Chicago  author. 
At  this  time  the  author  had  aquired  considerable  reputa- 
tion in  the  treatment  of  the  diseases  of  women.  To  prove 
that  he  was  a  pioneer  in  this  department  of  practice  it 
needs  only  to  be  stated  that,  owing  to  the  novelty  of  pro- 
cedure, there  were  eminent  men  in  the  profession,  not  a 
few  who  endeavored  to  discourage  the  use  of  means  which 
were  necessary  in  making  a  diagnosis.  Notably,  of  these, 
was  the  Professor  of  Obstetrics  in  the  Medical  School  of 
St.  George's  Hospital,  who  insisted  that  this  practice  was 
of  questionable  propriety,  and  he  did  not  hesitate  to  use, 
in  condemnation  of  the  practice,  even  more  ungracious 
terms. 

In  1866  Dr.  Byford  published  his  Practice  of  Medicine 
and  Surgery  Applied  to  the  Diseases  and  Accide?its  Incident 
to  Women.  This  work  has  passed  through  five  successive 
editions,  and  is  recognized  as  a  standard  text-book  in  the 
medical  colleges. 

In  1872  his  work  on  Obstetrics  was  published.  With 
justifiable  pleasure  the  doctor  related  to  his  intimate  friend 
an  incident  of  his  first  visit  to  Europe,     He  called  to  pay 


DR.  WILLIAM  HE  A  TH  B  YFORD. 


13 


his  respects  to  the  venerable  Dr.  McClintock,  of  Dublin. 
During  the  interview  Dr.  McClintock  went  to  his  book- 
case, saying  to  Dr.  Byford  I  wish  to  show  you  a  work 
which  I  consider  one  of  the  best  on  the  subject  in  my 
library,  and  then  handed  him  Byford's  Obstetrics. 

By  invitation,  in  1879,  Dr.  Byford  attended  the  annual 
meeting  of  the  British  Medical  Association,  and  read  an 
important  paper  on  the  use  of  ergot  in  the  treatment  of 
fibromyomata  of  the  uterus. 

Dr.  Byford  returned  to  Rush  Medical  College  in  March, 
1879,  and  was  elected  to  the  Chair  of  Gynecology,  which 
he  filled  continuously  till  his  demise,  May  21,  1890. 

As  an  operator  he  was  deliberate  and  painstaking.  No 
minutia  of  detail  was  too  trivial  to  escape  his  attention,  for 
he  held  that  every  item  of  detail  was  important,  and  to  his 
care  in  these  particulars  must  be  attributed  largely  the 
secret  of  his  success. 

As  a  teacher  he  was  accurate  in  every  statement  of  sci- 
entific truth  as  he  understood  it.  He  was  systematic  in  his 
arrangement  of  the  subjects,  and  logical  in  his  deductions. 
His  vocabulary  was  ample  and  his  words  were  well  chosen. 
He  never  attempted  unnecessary  embellishment  of  style. 
He  avoided  everything  in  his  lectures,  either  of  word  or 
act,  which  would  tend  in  the  least  to  divert  the  attention 
of  the  class  from  the  elucidation  of  the  subject  under  dis- 
cussion. These  were  the  qualities  that  made  him  the 
popular  teacher  that  he  was. 

In  his  professional  intercourse  he  was  considerate  and 
just.  In  his  deportment  no  prospect  of  immediate  advan- 
tage ever  influenced  him  to  swerve  in  the  slightest  degree 
from  the  line  of  rectitude.  To  such  a  man  the  printed 
code  of  medical  ethics  was  useless.  In  the  dignity  of  his 
manliness  he  rose  above  the  technical  limitations  which 
that  code  would  prescribe.  To  young  physicians  he  was 
generous  to  a  degree  that  secured  their  confidence  and 
captivated  their  affections. 


1 4  DR.  WILLIAM  HE  A  TH  B  YFORD. 

Here  I  cannot  resist  the  temptation  to  introduce  the 
estimate  in  which  Professor  Byford  was  held  by  an  eminent 
member  of  the  profession  long  years  since. 

In  1859,  after  Dr.  Byford  had  withdrawn  from  his  posi- 
tion in  Rush  Medical  College  and  united  with  other 
gentlemen  for  the  purpose  of  organizing  and  establishing 
a  new  medical  college  in  this  city,  in  answer  to  a  direct 
question,  Dr.  Daniel  Brainard  said  to  me,  "Dr.  Byford  is 
a  physician  of  uncommon  ability." 

These  are  expressive  words,  when  we  remember  the  time ; 
when  we  consider  the  circumstances,  we  are  conscious  that 
comment  could  add  nothing  to  their  force. 

Now,  having  reached  this  stage  of  my  sketch,  we  find 
that  Dr.  Byford  attained  eminence  and  great  reputation. 
He  seems  to  stand  alone,  like  a  general  in  front  of  the 
long  column  of  an  army  (if  I  may  use  the  simile).  Do 
you  query,  Who  were  Professor  Byford's  teachers  ?  I 
answer,  he  had  no  teachers. 

True,  he  took  his  degree  from  a  legally  organized  med- 
ical college.  But  what  were  the  opportunities  for  obtaining 
a  superior  medical  education  at  that  time  in  a  Western 
school  ?  There  were  no  clinics  worthy  the  name.  Of  the 
didactic  lectures,  which  were  the  principal,  almost  the  only 
means  of  communicating  knowledge  in  all  the  medical 
schools,  I  have  only  this  to  say :  There  are  doctors  present 
who  are  old  enough  to  recall  the  appearance  of  the  paper 
as  the  pages  of  the  manuscript  were  turned,  already  vener- 
able with  age,  having  passed  into  the  sear  and  yellow  tint, 
from  which  the  professors  droned  out  their  instructions. 
No,  Dr.  Byford  had  no  teachers  !  He  took  his  degree, 
and  at  once  stepped  upon  a  plane  above  and  unknown  to 
his  confreres. 

Were  the  story  of  Dr.  Byford's  life,  which  I  have  only 
briefly  sketched,  duly  extended,  we  would  be  obliged  to 
search  far  to  find  many  analogous  to  his ;  in  the  obstacles 
which  he  overcame,  in  his  usefulness  in  society,  and  in  the 


ipr 


^^^^/^£&^(^^^x^^y/ 


<r 


ft 


DR.  JOSEPH  PANCOAST.  T  - 

eminence  which  he  achieved.  I  know  of  but  one  in  any 
profession  whose  life  presents  a  parallel,  and  of  that  life  I 
need  not  rehearse  the  particulars.  You  all  know  it  well ; 
of  course  I  refer  to  Abraham  Lincoln,  also  of  Illinois. 

[Note. — Extracted  from  the  memorial  address  of  Dr. 
De  Laskie  Miller  at  the  unveiling  of  the  bust  of  Dr.  W.  H. 
Byford  at  Rush  Medical  College,  May  21,  1895.] 


JOSEPH  PANCOAST,  M.D., 

PHILADELPHIA,    PA. 

The  late  Dr.  Joseph  Pancoast,  of  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  one 
of  the  most  eminent  practitioners  of  medicine  and  surgery, 
and  known  throughout  the  medical  world  by  reason  of 
his  writings  and  inventions,  was  a  native  of  Burlington 
County,  New  Jersey,  and  was  born  November  23,  1805. 

His  ancestors  were  English  and  came  to  this  country 
before  William  Penn  did,  settling  in  the  Duke  of  York's 
grant  in  northeast  New  Jersey.  He  early  decided  upon 
following  the  profession  for  which  time  fully  demonstrated 
his  great  genius,  and  graduated  from  the  Medical  Depart- 
ment of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  in  1828,  and  im- 
mediately began  practice  in  Philadelphia.  He  very  soon 
decided  to  make  surgery  his  specialty,  and  accordingly  in 
1 83 1  commenced  the  teaching  of  that  branch  of  science 
together  with  practical  anatomy,  probably  on  the  theory 
that  he  who  teaches  is  taught. 

His  talents  obtaining  ready  recognition  he  was,  in  1834, 
appointed  one  of  the  physicians  of  the  Philadelphia  Hos- 
pital (Blockley),  and  not  long  after  was  elected  physician- 
in-chief  to  the  children's  hospital  in  the  same  institution. 

In  1838  he  was  elected  to  the  Chair  of  Surgery  in  the 
Jefferson  Medical  College,  but  he  still  retained  connection 


X6  DR.  JOSEPH  PANCOAST. 

with  the  children's  hospital,  and  was  visiting  physician 
there  until  1845. 

In  1 841  he  was  chosen  Professor  of  Anatomy  in  the  same 
college,  a  position  which  he  only  resigned  in  1874,  when 
he  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Dr.  William  H.  Pancoast. 

Thus  for  a  period  of  thirty-six  consecutive  years  he 
held  two  of  the  most  important  professorships  in  the  justly 
celebrated  school,  and  upon  his  retirement  from  the  last 
mentioned,  he  was,  in  evidence  of  the  high  esteem  in  which 
he  was  held  by  the  trustees,  elected  Emeritus  Professor  of 
Anatomy. 

In  March,  1854,  he  was  elected  one  of  the  surgeons  of 
the  Pennsylvania  Hospital,  which  post  he  held  for  a  period 
of  ten  years. 

It  would  appear  from  these  facts  alone  that  Dr.  Pan- 
coast's  life  was  an  exceedingly  busy  one,  but  they  fall  far 
short  of  indicating  his  real  activity  in  the  sphere  of  his 
chosen  science  and  profession.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind 
that  in  addition  to  his  duties  in  these  elective  positions  in 
the  celebrated  college  and  the  great  hospital,  he  carried  on 
a  large  private  practice  ;  was  a  constant  student,  keeping 
himself  fully  abreast,  and,  in  some  senses,  ahead  of  his 
times;  that  he  was  a  voluminous  writer  upon  medical 
topics,  and  gave  the  world  many  valuable  inventions  in 
instruments  for  and  operations  in  surgery. 

He  came  into  the  field  of  activity  well  equipped  by 
natural  endowment  and  by  close  study  at  a  time  when 
medicine  and  surgery  were  taking  their  greatest  strides  of 
progress,  and  he  became  one  of  the  leaders  in  the  intel- 
lectual march. 

He  identified  himself  with  the  leading  philosophical  and 
medical  societies,  and  closely  applied  himself  to  the  study 
and  production  of  literature  within  the  sphere  of  his  pro- 
fession, becoming,  in  fact,  a  distinguished  author,  and 
winning  fame  on  two  continents  by  his  masterly  treatment 
of  special  subjects  within  the  scope  of  medicine  and  surgery. 


DR.  JOSEPH  PANCOAST.  j  y 

As  early  as  1831  he  translated  from  the  Latin  and  added 
notes  to  a  Treatise  on  the  Structure,  Functions,  and  Dis- 
eases of  the  Human  Sympathetic  Nerve,  by  J.  Frederich 
Lobstein.  His  Treatise  on  Operative  Surgery,  which  be- 
came very  popular,  was  published  in  1844.  It  passed  to 
a  third  edition  in  1852,  and  appeared  in  a  revised  and 
enlarged  form. 

His  literary  contributions  to  medical  knowledge  made 
his  name  known  abroad  as  well  as  at  home,  and  brought 
him  into  correspondence  with  eminent  practitioners,  both 
in  England  and  America,  thereby  enlarging  his  informa- 
tion and  affording  a  stimulus  to  further  research  and 
endeavor. 

He  was  active  in  promoting  the  welfare  of  such  organi- 
zations as  the  American  Philosophical  Society,  the  Acad- 
emy of  Natural  Science,  the  London  Medical  Society,  the 
College  of  Physicians,  the  College  of  Pharmacy,  the  Phil- 
adelphia County  Medical  Society,  as  well  as  several  others 
of  which  he  was  a  member,  and  he  took  a  warm  interest, 
too,  in  assisting  individuals  who  exhibited  aptitude  and 
application  in  seeking  knowledge. 

Dr.  Pancoast  was  chiefly  noted  for  his  many  remarkable 
surgical  operations,  and  his  ingenuity  in  devising  new 
methods  which  in  numerous  cases  saved  life  when  it  in- 
evitably must  have  been  lost  by  the  old  methods  of  pro- 
cedure or  in  the  absence  of  any  operation. 

He  appears  to  have  been  as  admirable  a  man  as  he  was 
a  physician. 

In  social  life  Dr.  Pancoast  was  a  most  agreeable  com- 
panion. 

A  long  life  was  permitted  him  in  which  to  exercise  those 
functions  with  which  he  was  so  liberally  endowed,  and 
gave  of  as  liberally  for  the  benefit  of  mankind.  He  nearly 
reached  the  age  of  fourscore  years,  dying  March  7,  1882. 

[Taken  by  permission  from  "  Encyclopaedia  of  Contem- 
porary Biography  of  Pennsylvania,"  Vol.  I. — The  Author.] 

VOL.  II. — 2 


j8  DR.  HOWARD   WILLIAMS  LONG  YEAR. 

HOWARD  WILLIAMS  LONGYEAR,  M.D., 

DETROIT,    MICH. 

Howard  Williams  Longyear  was  born  in  Lansing, 
Mich.,  July  24,  1852,  and  is  the  second  son  of  the  late  Hon. 
John  W.  Longyear,  Judge  of  the  United  States  District 
Court  for  the  Eastern  District  of  Michigan.  His  mother,  now 
residing  at  Lansing,  was  Harriet  Monroe,  the  daughter  of 
Jesse  Monroe,  one  of  the  early  pioneers  of  the  State.  He 
received  his  preliminary  education  in  the  public  schools  of 
Lansing,  and  the  condition  of  his  health  preventing  the 
necessary  preparation  for  a  college  course,  he  passed  a  year 
in  commercial  studies,  and  then  entered  the  pharmaceutical 
laboratory  of  Frederick  Stearns,  at  Detroit,  with  the  inten- 
tion of  becoming  a  manufacturing  pharmacist  and  chemist. 
After  a  year  and  a  half  of  this  practical  work  he  entered 
the  class  in  pharmacy  at  the  University  of  Michigan,  in 
the  fall  of  1 87 1,  where  he  devoted  a  nine  months'  course 
to  the  study  of  analytical  chemistry,  and  while  there  be- 
came interested  in  the  higher  subject  of  medicine,  and 
decided  to  become  a  physician.  With  this  end  in  view  he 
choose  as  his  preceptor  Dr.  D.  O.  Farrand,  of  Detroit,  with 
whom  he  remained  till  the  fall  of  1873,  wnen  he  re-entered 
the  University,  in  the  medical  department,  and,  passing  his 
first  course  of  medical  lectures  in  this  institution,  he  after- 
ward matriculated  in  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Sur- 
geons, New  York  City,  where  he  graduated  (with  "  honor- 
able mention  ")  in  1875.  Soon  after  graduation  he  accepted 
the  position  of  Superintendent  and  Resident  Physician  of 
Harper  Hospital,  at  Detroit,  in  which  capacity  he  served 
until  April,  1879,  when  he  resigned  and  went  abroad  for 
one  year,  during  which  time  he  studied,  principally  in 
the  hospitals  of  Berlin  and  Vienna,  taking  special  courses 
of  instruction  under  Martin,  Schroeder,  Langenbeck,  Vir- 
chow,  Spaeth,  Braun,  Billroth  and  others.     Returning  to 


DR.  HOWARD   WILLIAMS  LONG  YEAR. 


19 


America  in  1880,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Abbie  Scott, 
daughter  of  Ira  Scott,  of  Chicago,  in  September  of  the 
same  year,  and  immediately  settled  in  Detroit  and  engaged 
in  the  practice  of  general  medicine  and  surgery.  He  fol- 
lowed the  work  of  a  general  practitioner  until  the  latter 
part  of  1 89 1,  when  he  again  devoted  several  months  to 
study  in  Europe,  part  of  the  time  being  passed  with  Mr. 
Lawson  Tait  at  Birmingham,  after  which  he  returned, 
gave  up  general  practice,  and  since  then  has  been  engaged 
exclusively  in  the  practice  of  gynecology  and  abdominal 
surgery.  He  has  for  several  years  filled  the  following  posi- 
tions in  Detroit  institutions :  President  of  the  Medical 
Board  of  the  Woman's  Hospital  and  Foundlings'  Home, 
gynecologist  to  Harper  Hospital,  clinical  professor  of 
gynecology  in  the  Detroit  College  of  Medicine,  and  mem- 
ber of  the  Board  of  Health  of  the  city  of  Detroit  (re- 
cently appointed  by  the  Governor  of  the  State,  and  the 
only  representative  of  the  regular  profession  on  the  Board). 
He  served  as  President  of  the  Detroit  Gynecological  So- 
ciety in  1889,  as  Chairman  of  the  Section  on  Gynecology 
of  the  Michigan  State  Medical  Society  in  1891,  and 
as  Vice-President  of  the  American  Association  of  Ob- 
stetricians and  Gynecologists  in  1892.  He  is  an  active 
member  of  the  following  medical  societies :  Detroit  Med- 
ical and  Library  Association,  Michigan  State  Medical 
Society,  American  Medical  Association,  and  American 
Association  of  Obstetricians  and  Gynecologists.  He  is  the 
author  of  the  following  brochures  and  lectures:  "The 
Relation  of  Gonorrhoea  to  Disease  of  the  Uterine  Appen- 
dages," "Tait's  Operation  for  Ruptured  Perineum," 
"The  Mechanical  Treatment  of  Abortion,"  "  Exanthe- 
matic  Salpingitis  and  Oophoritis,"  "A  New  Ligature  and 
Suture,"  "Five  Weeks  with  Lawson  Tait,"  "A  New 
Curette,"  "Self-retaining,  Intrauterine,  Tubular  Stem 
Pessary,"  "Some  Recent  Advances  in  the  Treatment  of 
Intra-peritoneal  Diseases,"  "Report  of   Twelve  Cases  of 


20  DR.    THOMAS  A    ASHBY. 

Laparotomy,"  "Circumcision  of  the  Clitoris,"  "Vaginal 
Hysterectomy,"  "Peritonitis — Remarks  on  Comparative 
Methods  of  Treatment,"  "A  Plea  for  Better  Surgery  in 
the  Closure  of  the  Abdominal  Incision,"  "Curettage  of 
the  Uterus,"  "The  Evolution  of  the  Therapeutics  of 
Traumatisms  of  the  Parturient  Canal,"  "The  Surgery  of 
Uterine  Fibroids,"  "The  Present  Status  of  the  Buried 
Animal  Suture  and  Ligature  in  Abdominal  and  Gynecic 
Surgery,"  "Palliative  Treatment  of  Malignancy  of  the 
Uterus,"  "  Kraurosis  Vulvse — a  Contribution  to  its  Path- 
ology and  Therapeutics,"  "Prophylactic  Treatment  of 
Eclampsia  Gravidarum." 


THOMAS   A.  ASHBY,  M.D., 

BALTIMORE,    MD. 

Dr.  Thomas  A.  Ashby,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  is  a 
member  of  an  old  and  prominent  Virginia  family.  He 
was  born  near  Front  Royal,  Warren  County,  Virginia,  on 
the  1 8th  day  of  November  in  the  year  1848.  The  Virginia 
Ashbys  claim  descent  from  Richard  de  Ashby,  who  was  the 
Lord  of  the  Manors  of  South  Croxton  and  Quenb)^,  in 
Leicestershire,  England,  in  the  year  1296.  The  English 
family  has  contributed  many  men  who  have  achieved  dis- 
tinction in  literature,  war,  and  in  statesmanship.  The 
town  of  Ashby  de  la  Zouche  and  the  Castle  of  Ashby,  in 
which  Mary  Queen  of  Scots  was  imprisoned,  are  associated 
with  the  English  family  of  Ashby  and  are  located  in  Lei- 
cestershire. 

The  ancestors  of  Dr.  Ashby  were  Cavaliers  who  fled  to 
Virginia  during  the  reign  of  Cromwell,  where  many  of  the 
best  known  families  of  English  blood  found  protection. 
He  is  the  fifth  in  line  of  descent  from  Colonel  John  Ashby, 
who  was   a  friend   and  companion   of   General   George 


JT%  tz*^£/-^  **■&. 


DR.   THOMAS  A.  ASHB  Y.  2 1 

Washington  in  the  Indian  and  French  wars  prior  to  1764. 
He  commanded  a  company  in  the  Braddock  campaign,  and 
was  selected  by  Washington  to  convey  the  intelligence  of 
the  defeat  to  the  Governor  of  Virginia,  at  Williamsburg. 
As  an  officer  in  the  Colonial  service  of  Virginia  he  was 
noted  for  his  courage  and  daring  as  an  Indian  fighter, 
and  many  incidents  are  told  of  his  remarkable  exploits. 
Through  this  same  line  Dr.  Ashby  is  related  to  the  late 
General  Turner  Ashby,  so  distinguished  as  a  Confederate 
officer  in  the  war  between  the  States  and  whose  tragic 
death  on  the  6th  of  June,  1862,  cast  a  sorrow  over  the 
Confederate  cause  in  the  South.  Through  his  paternal 
grandmother's  family  he  is  descended  from  the  Marquis 
Calmes,  a  French  nobleman,  whose  family,  with  other 
Huguenots,  came  to  Virginia  after  the  revocation  of  the 
Edict  of  Nantes.  His  great-grandfather,  Captain  Nathaniel 
Ashby,  held  a  commission  during  the  War  of  the  Revolu- 
tion in  the  3d  Virginia  regiment,  commanded  by  Colonel 
Thomas  Marshall,  the  father  of  Chief-Justice  John  Mar- 
shall. Subsequent  to  the  war  he  married  Margaret  Mauzy, 
the  granddaughter  of  Colonel  Henry  Mauzy,  a  Huguenot 
who  fled  from  France  in.  1685  and  came  to  Virginia. 

Soon  after  the  close  of  the  Civil  War  General  R.  E.  Lee 
accepted  the  Presidency  of  Washington  College,  located 
at  Lexington,  Va.  The  youth  of  the  South  immediately 
flocked  to  this  institution  to  receive  educational  instruction 
under  this  great  soldier  and  citizen.  Dr.  Ashby  was  one 
of  this  number.  He  entered  Washington  College  (now 
Washington  and  Lee  University)  in  February,  1867,  and 
remained  there  until  June,  1870.  He  took  an  elective 
course,  consisting  of  the  classics,  modern  languages,  and 
chemistry,  as  having  a  special  bearing  upon  his  preparation 
for  the  medical  profession.  In  the  fall  of  187 1  he  entered 
the  Medical  Department  of  the  University  of  Maryland, 
from  which  he  graduated  in  March,  1873.  He  served  as 
an  interne  in  the  University  Hospital  from  March,  1872, 


22  DR.   THOMAS  A.  ASHBY. 

to  March,  1873.  After  graduation  he  located  in  Balti- 
more, and  was  appointed  Prosector  to  the  Chair  of  Anatomy 
in  the  University.  In  March,  1875,  he  was  elected  Resi- 
dent Physician  to  the  Maryland  University  Hospital,  where 
his  opportunities  for  clinical  study  were  of  the  most  valu- 
able character.  Losing  his  father  in  1878,  he  was  com- 
pelled to  resign  this  position  in  July  of  that  year,  to  return 
to  Virginia  to  close  up  his  father's  estate,  now  thrown  on 
his  shoulders.  In  October  of  1878  he  again  located  in 
Baltimore,  where  he  has  since  resided. 

In  May,  1877,  Dr.  Ashby  became  one  of  the  founders 
of  the  Maryland  Medical  Journal,  which  was  issued 
monthly  until  May,  1880,  after  which  it  was  changed  to  a 
bi-weekly.  He  subsequently  became  the  sole  owner  and 
editor  of  the  journal,  and  in  May,  1883  converted  it  into 
a  weekly.  This  is  the  only  medical  journal  in  Maryland 
which  up  to  that  time  had  survived  volume  ii.,  No.  3. 
The  Maryland  Medical  Journal  has  taken  a  front  rank 
among  the  medical  publications  of  this  country.  It  owes 
its  success  to  the  indomitable  perseverance,  energy,  and 
determination  of  Dr.  Ashby.  Owing  to  the  growth  of  his 
professional  work  and  other  interests,  Dr.  Ashby  sold  out 
his  interest  in  the  journal  in  1888.  His  experience  as  an 
editor  extended  through  some  fourteen  years,  and  during 
that  time  his  pen  has  handled  almost  every  subject  and 
professional  interest  worthy  of  note. 

In  1882  Dr.  Ashby  suggested  to  several  medical  friends 
the  advisability  of  establishing  a  woman's  medical  college 
in  Baltimore.  This  suggestion  bore  fruit,  and  in  October 
of  that  year  the  doors  to  a  medical  education  were  opened 
to  woman  for  the  first  time  in  the  South.  Dr.  Ashby  de- 
livered the  opening  address  and  presented  an  argument  in 
support  of  this  movement  which  time  has  not  disproved. 
This  college  is  now  one  of  the  most  creditable  schools  of 
its  class  in  this  country,  keeping  pace  with  every  move- 
ment looking  to  higher  methods  of  education  in  medicine. 


DR.    THOMAS  A.  ASHB  Y. 


23 


Dr.  Ashby  has  filled  the  Chair  of  Obstetrics  since  the  col- 
lege was  established. 

In  1889  Dr.  Ashby  was  called  to  the  Chair  of  Diseases 
of  Women  and  Children  in  the  Baltimore  Medical  College. 
Here  a  wide  field  of  work  was  opened  up  to  him.  This 
college  was  then  almost  in  its  infancy,  and  its  facilities 
were  not  equal  to  the  work  of  progress  ahead  of  it. 
Energy,  enthusiasm,  and  a  progressive  spirit  in  the  faculty 
of  this  college  came  to  the  front,  and  within  the  past  three 
years  this  school  has  erected  a  college  and  hospital  plant 
at  an  outlay  of  over  $125,000,  which  have  placed  it  in  the 
front  rank  of  medical  schools  in  this  country.  Its  facilities 
for  clinical,  laboratory,  and  didactic  teaching  are  up  to 
the  requirements  of  the  day. 

In  the  year  1890-91  Dr.  Ashby  was  honored  with  the 
Presidency  of  the  Medical  and  Chirurgical  Faculty  of 
Maryland,  the  sixth  in  point  of  organization  of  the  State 
medical  societies  of  this  country.  He  is  an  ex-President 
of  the  Baltimore  Medical  Association  and  of  the  Baltimore 
Gynecological  and  Obstetrical  Society.  He  is  a  member 
of  the  American  Medical  Association  and  a  Fellow  of  the 
American  Gynecological  Society.  Dr.  Ashby  is  widely 
known  as  an  editor,  teacher,  and  surgeon,  and  is  regarded 
as  a  conservative,  conscientious  and  industrious  worker  in 
his  profession.  He  has  already  achieved  many  of  the  re- 
sults which  flow  from  strict  attention  to  duty  and  untiring 
effort.  He  has  devoted  much  attention  to  abdominal  sur- 
gery, and  claims  to  have  performed  successfully  the  first 
laparotomy  for  ruptured  tubal  pregnancy  in  the  State  of 
Maryland.  As  an  operative  gynecologist  he  has  a  large 
and  successful  experience.  He  has  been  a  frequent  con- 
tributor to  current  medical  literature.  In  his  tastes  Dr. 
Ashby  is  social  and  literary,  being  an  omnivorous  reader 
and  an  attentive  student  and  observer.  His  manners  are 
frank  and  cordial,  and  he  possesses  to  an  eminent  degree 
the  faculty   of    making   and   retaining    friends.     In    his 


24 


DR.  CHARLES  HENRY  RILEY. 


pleasant  home  on  Madison  Avenue,  in  Baltimore,  he  is 
ever  hospitable  and  courteous  to  friends  or  strangers  who 
may  seek  his  company.  His  characteristics  are  those  of 
an  unassuming  and  cultivated  gentleman  and  courteous 
physician  and  friend.  With  the  warmth  of  a  kind  heart 
he  delights  to  shed  joy  and  sunshine  upon  the  world  and 
to  employ  his  energies  and  talents  for  the  honor  of  his 
profession  and  for  the  good  of  society.  In  18S7  Dr. 
Ashby  was  married  to  Miss  Mary  Cunningham,  of  Coving- 
ton, Kentucky,  a  lady  of  most  attractive  personal  and 
social  characteristics.  They  have  three  interesting  and 
attractive  young  daughters. 


CHARLES  HENRY  RILEY,  M.D., 

BALTIMORE,  MD. 

Dr.  Charles  H.  Riley  was  born  in  Baltimore,  Md., 
April  1 6th,  in  the  year  1856.  He  is  the  son  of  Dr.  Wil- 
liam Riley,  who  was  born  in  1807,  and  was  a  successful 
practitioner  in  Baltimore,  Md.,  for  nearly  sixty  years.  He 
was  an  earnest  worker  in  his  profession,  and  died  August 
15,  1887,  loved  and  deeply  lamented  by  those  who  knew 
him. 

Dr.  Charles  Riley's  mother  was  Elizabeth  Eleanor  Rei- 
gart,  who  was  the  daughter  of  Daniel  Reigart. 

His  grandmother  on  his  maternal  side  was  Clarissa 
Sidney  Trimble,  daughter  of  James  Trimble,  who  married 
Clarissa  Claypoole,  a  direct  descendant  of  the  distinguished 
Claypoole  family  of  England. 

George  Claypoole,  when  a  child,  was  brought  to  this 
country  by  his  father,  James  Claypoole,  at  the  time  he 
emigrated  to  America,  in  the  year  1683.  He  was  a  de- 
scendant of  the  James  Claypoole,  of  Norborough,  North- 
amptonshire, who  obtained  a  grant  of  arms  in  1588. 


DR.  CHARLES  HENRY  RILEY. 


25 


This  noted  family  emigrated  as  Friends  with  William 
Penn  about  the  time  of  the  settlement  of  Pennsylvania. 

Dr.  Riley  received  his  early  education  in  the  City  of 
Baltimore,  Md.,  and  was  graduated  from  the  University  of 
Maryland  in  1880.  After  graduation  he  was  selected  as 
interne  to  the  Woman's  Hospital  of  New  York,  where  he 
remained  from  1880  to  1881.  Here  Dr.  Riley  laid  the 
foundation  for  special  work  in  gynecology,  which  he  has 
built  on  in  subsequent  years ;  and  he  has  met  with  most 
excellent  success.  He  is  considered  a  careful,  cautious 
operator,  and  a  man  of  strong  practical  nerve,  and  of 
sterling  worth.  Quiet  and  unassuming  in  his  manners  and 
tastes,  genial  and  kind  in  his  disposition,  he  has  the  happy 
faculty  of  making  friends  and  retaining  them.  By  his 
energy  and  perseverance  he  has  forced  his  way  to  a  large 
professional  work ;  and  now,  in  the  prime  of  life,  bids  fair 
to  rise  to  the  highest  honors  in  his  profession. 

He  is  a  member  of  the  Medical  and  Chirurgical  Faculty 
of  Maryland,  of  the  Baltimore  Gynecological  and  Obstet- 
rical Society,  and  of  other  local  medical  organizations. 

He  is  one  of  the  staff  of  the  Woman's  Hospital  in  Balti- 
more, for  the  women  of  Maryland,  and  as  one  of  its 
founders  is  deeply  interested  in  the  success  of  the  institu- 
tion, and  he  has  been  assistant  surgeon  since  its  organi- 
zation. 

He  was  married  in  1882  to  Miss  Laura  B.  Simmons,  of 
Baltimore,  Md.  They  have  five  very  bright  and  interest- 
ing children,  three  boys  and  two  girls. 

He  has  a  large  and  comfortable  home  on  Madison  Ave- 
nue, Baltimore,  Md.,  where  his  many  friends  can  alwa)s 
find  a  warm  and  cordial  welcome. 

We  trust  that  many  years  of  happiness  may  be  allotted 
him,  and  continued  success  may  crown  his  life  of  useful- 
ness. 


26  DR.  HENRY  PARKE  CUSTIS  WILSON. 

HENRY  PARKE  CUSTIS  WILSON,  M.D., 

BALTIMORE,  MARYLAND. 

Henry  Parke  Custis  Wilson,  M.D.,  son  of  Henry 
Parke  Custis  and  Susan  E.  (Savage)  Wilson,  and  grandson 
of  Col.  John  Custis  Wilson,  was  born  March  5,  1827,  in 
Somerset  County,  Maryland.  He  was  educated  at  Prince- 
ton University,  from  which  he  received  the  degrees  of 
A.B.,  in  1848,  and  A.M  ,  in  1851.  He  commenced  the 
study  of  medicine  in  Northampton  County,  Virginia,  in 
1848,  under  Dr.  Wm.  G.  Smith  ;  attended  one  course  of 
lectures  in  the  Medical  Department  of  the  University  of 
Virginia,  and  on  leaving  there  in  the  summer  of  1850 
was  appointed  an  Interne  of  the  University  of  Maryland 
Hospital,  and  entered  upon  his  duties  there  in  July  of  the 
same  year  and  remained  eighteen  months.  He  attended 
his  second  course  of  lectures  at  the  University  of  Mary- 
land (School  of  Medicine),  Baltimore,  and  was  gradu- 
ated therefrom  in  March,  1851. 

His  first  and  only  location  in  the  practice  of  medicine 
was  in  Baltimore,  Md.,  September,  1851. 

Dr.  Wilson  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  American 
Gynecological  Society,  and  its  president  in  1889.  One  of 
the  founders  of  the  Baltimore  Obstetrical  and  Gynecologi- 
cal Society,  and  its  president  in  1887  and  1888 ;  member, 
and  in  1881  president,  of  the  Medical  and  Chirurgical 
Faculty  of  Maryland  ;  member  of  the  Baltimore  Academy 
of  Medicine,  and  its  president  in  1880;  member  of  the 
British  Medical  Association  ;  Vice  President  of  the  Brit- 
ish Gynecological  Society  ;  Honorary  Fellow  of  the  Edin- 
bugh  Obstetrical  Society  ;  Honorary  Fellow  of  the  Wash- 
ington Obstetrical  and  Gynecological  Society. 

He  has  been  Surgeon -in-charge  of  the  Hospital  for  the 
Women  of  Maryland  since  its  foundation  in  1882.     For- 


:. 


y&  1* 


•A« 


DR.  HENRY  PARKE  CUSTIS  WILSON. 


27 


merly  consulting  gynecologist  to  St.  Agnes  Hospital,  and 
consulting  surgeon  to  Johns  Hopkins  Hospital  since  it  was 
opened  in  1889. 

Dr.  Wilson  was  the  founder  of  gynecology  in  his  sec- 
tion of  the  country,  and  for  some  years  was  the  only  gyne- 
cologist in  Baltimore. 

He  was  the  second  Maryland  physician  to  perform  suc- 
cessfully ovariotomy  ;  and  was  the  first  physician  in  that 
State  to  remove  the  uterine  appendages  by  abdominal 
section,  as  well  as  to  perform  the  operation  for  division  of 
the  cervix  uteri  (Sims  operation).  He  was  the  second 
physician  in  the  world  to  remove  a  large  intra-uterine 
tumor,  filling  the  whole  pelvis,  by  cutting  it  away  in 
pieces,  after  all  other  methods  had  failed,  and  the  patient 
recovered. 

In  1880  Dr.  Wilson  performed  abdominal  section,  and 
delivered  an  eight  pound  living  child  from  the  abdominal 
cavity,  which  lived  for  over  three  years,  and  died  of  cholera 
infantum ;  Dr.  Chatard  having  delivered  a  living  child  from 
the  uterus  by  the  natural  passages  one  month  previously. 

Dr.  Wilson  has  invented  a  number  of  surgical  instru- 
ments for  the  surgery  peculiar  to  women. 

His  chief  medical  papers  are:  "Ovariotomy  during 
Pregnancy,"  "The  Hand  as  a  Curette  in  Post-partum 
Hemorrhage,"  "  Sub-sulphate  of  Iron  as  an  Antiseptic  in 
the  Surgery  of  the  Pelvis,"  "  Division  of  the  Cervix  Back- 
ward in  Some  Forms  of  Anteflexion  of  the  Uterus  with 
Dysmenorrhosa  and  Sterility,"  "The  President's  Annual 
Address  before  the  American  Gynecological  Society  in 
1889,"  "  Foreign  Bodies  Left  in  the  Abdomen  after  Lapar- 
otomy," "  Hysterectomy  with  a  New  Clamp  for  Removal 
of  Large  Uterine  Tumors,"  "Twin  Pregnancy,  One 
Child  in  the  Uterus  and  the  Other  in  the  Abdomen;" 
"  Paquelin's  Thermo-cautery  with  Wilson's  Antithermic 
Shield,"  "Uterine  Dilatation  with  a  New  Instrument," 
"Retro-displacement  of  the  Uterus." 


28  DR.  HANNAH  E.  LONGSHORE. 

Dr.  Wilson  is  a  Fellow  of  the  Maryland  Historical 
Society,  and  has  been  an  Elder  in  the  Presbyterian  Church 
for  nearly  thirty  years.  His  paternal  ancestor,  Ephraim 
Wilson,  came  to  this  country  in  the  early  part  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  and,  settling  on  the  eastern  shore  of 
Maryland,  became  one  of  the  founders  of  the  first  Presbyte- 
rian Church  in  America. 

In  1858,  Dr.  Wilson  married  Miss  Alicia  Brewer  Grif- 
fith, of  Baltimore.  They  have  six  living  children,  Dr. 
Robert  Taylor,  Henry  Parke  Custis,  William  Griffith, 
Henrietta  Chauncey,  Alicia  Brewer,  and  Emily  Griffith 
Wilson. 

There  is  no  physician  who  stands  higher  in  the  com- 
munity in  which  he  lives  than  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
and  all  persons  having  the  pleasure  of  Dr.  Wilson's  ac- 
quaintance may  justly  feel  proud  of  the  friendship  of  such 
a  man. 


HANNAH   E.  LONGSHORE,  M.D., 

PHILADELPHIA,    PA. 

To  those  who  are  familiar  with  the  struggles  of  the 
pioneer  women  to  obtain  recognition  in  professional  life 
Dr.  Hannah  E.  Longshore  needs  no  introduction.  Al- 
though her  name  has  not  been  appended  to  convention 
calls,  or  prominent  in  public  movements  among  women, 
she  has  always  taken  a  deep  interest  in  the  elevation  of 
her  sex.  For  the  past  forty  years  she  has  been  a  con- 
spicuous figure  in  Philadelphia.  In  the  early  part  of  this 
time,  notable  because  she  dared  to  practise  medicine  in 
opposition  to  public  sentiment ;  and  without  question  it 
may  be  said  she  helped  to  break  the  ground,  and  by  her 
practical  work  prepared  the  way  for  the  hosts  of  women 
doctors  who  have  followed.     Later,  through  wide  experi- 


DR.  HANNAH  E.  LONGSHORE.  2g 

ence  and  faithful  attention  to  business,  she  earned  a  dis- 
tinction few  enjoy. 

Dr.  Longshore  was  born  May  30,  1819,  in  Montgomery- 
County,  Maryland.  Her  father  and  mother,  Samuel  and 
Paulina  Myers,  were  natives  of  Bucks  County,  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  members  of  the  Society  of  Friends.  From 
her  second  till  her  thirteenth  year  the  family  resided  in 
Washington,  D.  C,  where  she  attended  private  school. 
Her  parents,  not  wishing  to  raise  a  family  of  children 
under  the  demoralizing  influences  of  slavery  then  preva- 
lent in  the  South,  moved  to  Columbiana  County,  Ohio, 
settling  upon  a  farm.  This  free  life,  with  outdoor  exer- 
cise, laid  the  foundation  for  her  future  work.  To  her  the 
pursuit  of  knowledge  always  was  a  keen  delight.  As  a 
child  she  enjoyed  the  study  of  anatomy,  dissecting  small 
animals  with  great  interest  and  precision.  As  a  young 
woman  her  great  ambition  was  to  attend  Oberlin  Col- 
lege. At  twenty-two  she  married  Thomas  E.  Longshore, 
and  returned  with  him  to  his  home  near  Philadelphia, 
where  the  following  few  years  were  devoted  to  domestic 
duties.  Eight  years  later  we  find  Mrs.  Longshore  reading 
medicine  with  her  brother-in-law,  Professor  Joseph  S.  Long- 
shore, in  addition  to  taking  care  of  her  two  children  and 
home. 

Professor  Longshore  was  deeply  interested  in  the  medi- 
cal education  of  women,  and  was  one  of  the  leading 
spirits  and  active  workers  in  securing  the  charter  and 
opening  "The  Female  Medical  College  of  Pennsylvania," 
located  in  Philadelphia,  now  "Woman's  Medical  Col- 
lege." His  pupil  availed  herself  of  this  opportunity  and 
became  a  member  of  the  first  class,  graduating  at  the 
close  of  the  second  session  in  1851.  She  was  appointed 
demonstrator  of  anatomy  the  following  session  of  college. 

As  a  means  of  bringing  herself  before  the  public  in 
a  professional  way,  she  prepared  and  delivered  several 
courses  of  popular  lectures  on  physiology  and  hygiene. 


30 


DR.  HANNAH  E.  LONGSHORE. 


This  was  indeed  an  innovation,  and  aroused  considerable 
discussion.    Lucretia  Mott  presided  at  the  opening  lecture. 

During  the  first  year  after  graduation,  Dr.  Longshore 
was  called  to  see  a  woman  ill  with  dropsy,  who  had  been 
given  up  by  the  doctors  to  die.  One,  a  leading  physician, 
staked  his  medical  reputation  that  the  case  would  termi- 
nate fatally.  To  the  surprise  of  all  interested,  the  patient 
recovered  under  the  care  of  "  that  woman."  This  was  a 
triumph  in  skill  that  spread  among  the  friends  of  the 
family  and  brought  the  young  doctor  many  patients. 

The  story  of  the  difficulties  and  criticisms  that  met  Dr. 
Longshore  in  every  direction  in  the  early  years  of  her 
practice  seems  like  fiction.  Who  would  believe  to-day 
that  she  found  it  almost  impossible  to  procure  medicines  ; 
that  druggists  would  not  fill  her  prescriptions,  saying,  "A 
woman  could  not  be  trusted  to  prescribe  drugs ;  she  could 
not  know  enough  to  give  the  proper  dose;"  that  doctors 
persecuted  her  and  would  not  consult  with  a  woman? 
The  doctor  sign  on  her  door,  the  first  one  seen  in  Phila- 
delphia, called  forth  ridicule ;  people  stopped  on  the 
pavement  in  front  of  her  house  and  read  the  name  aloud 
with  annoying  comments.  She  drove  her  own  horse, 
which  was  contrary  to  the  custom  and  sure  proof  of  her 
strongmindedness. 

"  Nothing  is  so  successful  as  success."  As  time  passed, 
all  these  obstacles  faded  away,  and  Dr.  Longshore  followed 
the  usual  course  of  general  practitioners.  At  the  zenith 
of  her  work  she  visited,  was  consulted  by,  and  prescribed 
for  as  great  a  number,  and,  with  a  few  exceptions,  more 
patients  than  any  of  the  leading  physicians.  Gifted  by 
nature  with  intuitive  power  and  strong  personal  mag- 
netism, she  prescribes  with  quickness  and  leaves  her 
patient  refreshed  by  the  visit.  To-day,  at  the  age  of 
seventy- two,  she  is  full  of  activity  and  able  to  attend  to 
a  large  practice.  During  her  professional  career  she  has 
been  confined  to  her  home  but   twice  by  sickness,  and 


DR.  HANNAH  E.  LONGSHORE.  gi 

has  taken  but  a  few  short  vacations.  She  is  a  splendid 
illustration  of  what  a  congenial  occupation  and  outdoor 
exercise  will  do  in  developing  the  physical  power  of 
women. 

Professionally  and  socially  she  has  always  been  actuated 
by  high  motives.  She  is  noted  for  her  honesty  of  opinion 
and  fearless  truthfulness.  While  her  surroundings  indi- 
cate material  prosperity,  no  suffering  woman  has  ever 
been  refused  attention  because  of  her  inability  to  pay  for 
such  service.  In  connection  with  her  practice  she  has 
given  attention  to  minor  surgery,  and  in  the  reduction  of 
dislocations  has  been  most  successful.  She  is  frequently 
called  upon  as  a  medical  expert ;  and  in  a  recent  case  her 
testimony,  given  in  the  form  of  an  object  lesson,  was  so 
explicit  that  the  judge  remarked,  "  This  is  a  revelation, 
and  will  cause  a  new  era  in  expert  testimony." 

The  home  life  of  Dr.  Longshore  is  and  has  been  of  the 
most  happy  kind.  The  family  circle  consists  of  a  hus- 
band, children,  grandchildren,  and  sisters.  Mr.  Long- 
shore, whose  sympathy  and  counsel  have  been  an  inspira- 
tion through  all  these  years,  is  a  man  of  considerable 
literary  attainment,  a  thinker,  and  a  writer.  The  daugh- 
ter, Mrs.  Lucretia  L.  Blankenburg,  and  her  husband, 
Rudolph  Blankenburg,  with  their  children,  are  the  life  of 
the  home.  Miss  Julia  A.  Myers  and  Dr.  Jane  V.  Myers, 
her  sisters,  complete  the  circle  and  form  a  most  interesting 
group.  Few  families  are  to  be  found  who,  with  their  sepa- 
rate interests,  are  yet  so  united.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Blanken- 
burg are  active  in  the  reform  movements  and  philanthro- 
pies of  the  day.  Miss  Julia  A.  Myers  fills  several  positions 
of  trust,  and  Dr.  Jane  V.  Myers  is  second  only  to  her  sister 
in  professional  success. 

The  son,  Dr.  Channing  Longshore,  choose  his  mother's 
profession,  and  has  made  a  reputation  in  the  West. 


32  DR.  JOSEPH  TABER  JOHNSON. 

JOSEPH  TABER  JOHNSON,  .M.D., 

WASHINGTON,    D.   C. 

Joseph  Taber  Johnson,  M.D.,  was  born  in  Lowell, 
Massachusetts,  June  30,  in  the  year  1845. 

He  is  a  son  of  Rev.  Lorenzo  Dow  Johnson  and  a  de- 
scendant of  John  Alden,  who  came  to  this  country  in  the 
"  Mayflower."  He  is  also  descended  from  Revolutionary 
ancestors,  and  is  a  member  of  the  Society  of  the  Sons  of 
the  American  Revolution. 

He  resided  in  Plymouth  County,  Massachusetts,  until  he 
was  fourteen  years  of  age,  when  his  family  moved  to  Wash- 
ington, D.  C.  His  father  was  a  chaplain  in  the  United 
States  Navy. 

His  attendance  at  Columbian  University  was  inter- 
rupted by  the  war  in  1861,  but  he  was  awarded  the  hon- 
orary degree  of  Master  of  Arts  in  1869.  He  received  the 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine  from  the  Medical  Depart- 
ment of  Georgetown  University  in  1865  and  from  the 
Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College  in  1867. 

He  held  the  position  of  acting  assistant  surgeon  United 
States  Army,  and  was  assigned  to  the  Freedmen's  Hospital 
after  the  close  of  the  war.  For  three  years  he  was  Pro- 
fessor of  Obstetrics  and  Diseases  of  Women  and  Children 
in  the  Howard  University  in  Washington,  D.  C. 

He  visited  Europe  in  the  year  1870  and  spent  much 
time  in  the  hospitals  of  Berlin,  Edinburgh,  London,  Dub- 
lin, Paris,  and  Vienna. 

He  passed  a  thorough  examination  before  Professor 
Carl  Braun,  in  Vienna,  receiving  a  diploma  for  profi- 
ciency in  obstetric  operations  in  1871,  since  which  date 
he  has  practised  his  profession  in  Washington,  making 
a  specialty  of  gynecology  and  obstetrics. 

Dr.  Johnson  has  been  connected  with  many  of  the  city 


/ 


%K  r  C$ciW-  9\S\*MAtf\_ 


DR.  JOSEPH  TABER  JOHNSON. 


13 


hospitals  and  dispensaries.  He  was  surgeon  to  Columbia 
Hospital  for  Women,  which  he  reorganized  in  1892.  He 
was  gynecologist  to  the  Providence  Hospital  for  twelve 
years.  He  is  consulting  gynecologist  to  the  Emergency 
Hospital  and  Central  Dispensary;  president  of  the 
Woman's  Dispensary;  in  charge  of  his  own  private. Hos- 
pital for  Gynecological  and  Abdominal  Surgery.  This 
sanitarium  is  intended  to  accommodate  sick  women  from 
out  of  town  and  those  who  do  not  wish  to  enter  a  public 
hospital,  and  who  cannot  receive  the  benefits  of  modern 
antiseptic  surgical  treatment  with  the  necessary  quiet  so 
important  for  the  recovery  of  patients  undergoing  abdom- 
inal operations.  The  private  hospital  system  is  intended 
to  combine  all  the  requisite  comforts  of  home  with  the  an- 
tiseptic safeguards  of  the  modern  surgical  hospital.  The 
number  of  patients  is  limited  to  fifteen,  each  one  of  whom 
has  a  separate  room. 

Dr.  Johnson  is  Professor  of  Gynecology  and  Abdominal 
Surgery  in  the  Medical  Department  of  the  University  of 
Georgetown,  in  which  he  has  lectured  since  1874. 

He  is  a  Fellow  of  the  American  Gynecological  Society, 
of  which  he  is  one  of  the  founders,  and  was  its  secretary 
and  editor  of  its  Transactions  for  three  years ;  Fellow  of 
the  Southern  Surgical  and  Gynecological  Society ;  of  the 
Massachusetts  Medical  Society ;  American  Medical  Asso- 
ciation ;  of  the  Virginia  Medical  Society ;  Medical  So- 
ciety and  Medical  Association  of  the  District  of  Colum- 
bia; Washington  Obstetrical  and  Gynecological  Society, 
of  which  he  was  president  for  two  years.  He  was  also 
President  of  the  Medical  Society  of  the  District  of  Colum- 
bia, and  Alumni  Societies  of  his  two  Alma  Maters.  He 
is  a  member  of  the  Anthropological  Society  of  the  District 
of  Columbia,  and  received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Phil- 
osophy from  Georgetown  University  in  1890. 

He  is  author  of  many  papers,  addresses,  and  reports  of 
important  cases,  mostly  on  subjects  relating  to  his  specialty. 

VOL.   II. — 3 


34 


DR.  PAUL  F.  MUNDE. 


Dr.  Johnson  has  opened  the  abdomen  about  four  hun- 
dred times,  with  a  general  mortality  of  about  8  per  cent. 
In  a  recent  report  of  all  the  abdominal  sections  performed 
in  his  private  hospital,  published  in  the  Virginia  Medical 
Journal,  November,  1894,  Dr.  Johnson  operated  one  hun- 
dred and  sixteen  times,  with  six  deaths,  a  mortality  of 
about  5  per  cent. 

In  May,  1873,  Dr.  Johnson  married  Edith  Maud,  daugh- 
ter of  Professor  William  F.  Bascom,  of  Washington,  D.  C, 
and  they  have  a  family  of  five  children.  His  eldest  son, 
Lorenzo,  is  now  a  student  in  Yale  College,  who,  after 
graduation,  expects  to  study  medicine.  His  second  son, 
•  Bascom,  is  now  in  Worcester  Academy,  Massachusetts, 
fitting  for  Yale  College. 

Dr.  Johnson  has  attended  many  prominent  people  in 
Washington,  among  whom  are  the  families  of  three  Pres- 
idents, many  senators  and  representatives  in  Congress, 
generals,  admirals,  foreign  ministers,  and  many  distin- 
guished government  officials  and  citizens. 


PAUL   F.  MUNDE,  M.D., 

NEW    YORK,    N.   Y. 

Munde,  Paul  Fortunatus,  New  York  City,  born  Sep- 
tember 7,  1846,  in  Dresden,  Saxony,  is  the  son  of  Charles 
and  Bertha  (von  Hornemann)  Munde  and  grandson  of 
Baron  von  Hornemann,  at  one  time  counsellor  to  the  King 
of  Saxony.  When  he  was  three  years  of  age  his  father,  a 
political  refugee,  brought  him  to  this  country  and  he  spent 
his  early  boyhood  in  Florence,  Mass.  ;  was  educated  at 
home  and  in  the  Public  Latin  School  of  Boston,  Mass., 
and  commenced  the  study  of  medicine  in  1863,  at  Yale 
University,  Department  of  Medicine ;  then  attended  his 
last  two  courses  of  lectures  at  Harvard  University  Medi- 


DR.  PAUL  F.  MUNDE. 


35 


cal  School,  and  was  graduated  there  March  2,  1866.  He 
was  acting  medical  cadet,  U.  S.  A.,  during  six  months  of 
the  year  1864,  and  after  graduating  he  went  abroad  and 
served  as  volunteer  assistant  surgeon,  on  the  Bavarian  side, 
in  the  war  between  Prussia  and  Austria  and  South  Ger- 
many during  the  summer  of  1866,  and  during  the  Franco- 
German  war,  i87o-'7i,  was  battalion  surgeon  with  rank  of 
first  lieutenant  in  the  Bavarian  Army.  In  1867  Dr.  Munde 
became  resident  physician  to  the  Maternity  in  Wiirzburg, 
and  assistant  to  the  great  German  gynecologist,  Scanzoni, 
and  held  this  position  until  1870.  On  his  return  from 
France  he  was  mustered  out  of  the  Bavarian  Army,  and 
passed  nearly  two  years  in  the  hospitals  of  Vienna  (where 
in  December,  1871,  he  took  the  degree  of  Master  in  Ob- 
stetrics), Heidelberg,  Berlin,  London,  Edinburgh,  and 
Paris,  and  then  returned  and  settled  in  New  York  City  in 
1873,  entering  upon  the  general  practice  of  medicine,  but 
gradually  merging  into  gynecology  and  consulting  obstet- 
rics. In  1874  he  became  the  editor  of  the  American 
Journal  of  Obstetrics,  and  performed  the  duties  of  this 
position  until  January  1,  1892,  when  other  duties  com- 
pelled him  to  resign. 

Dr.  Munde  is  a  member  of  the  Medical  Society  of  the 
County  of  New  York ;  fellow  of  the  New  York  Academy 
of  Medicine,  New  York  Obstetrical  Society  (president  from 
1886  to  1888),  American  Gynecological  Society  (vice- 
president  in  1884),  British  Gynecological  Society  (vice- 
president  in  1887);  German  Gynecological  Society,  cor- 
responding fellow  of  the  Obstetrical  Society  of  Edinburgh, 
of  Leipzig,  and  of  Philadelphia,  a  member  of  the  Union 
League  Club  and  Riding  Club  of  New  York,  South  Side 
Sportsman  Club  of  Long  Island,  and  of  the  Laurentian 
Club  of  Canada. 

Dr.  Munde  has  been  professor  of  gynecology. at  the  New 
York  Polyclinic  since  1882,  and  at  Dartmouth  Medical 
College,  summer  term,  since  1880  ;  gynecologist  to  Mt, 


36 


DR.  PAUL  F.  MUNDE. 


Sinai  Hospital  since  1881  ;  consulting  gynecologist  to  St. 
Elizabeth's  Hospital  since  1888,  and  to  the  Italian  Hos- 
pital since  1890.  His  contributions  to  medical  literature 
have  been  numerous,  and  include  the  following  books  and 
papers,  with  many  others  too  numerous  to  mention  : 

"A  Practical  Treatise  on  the  Diseases  of  Women,"  re- 
vised edition  (Thomas  and  Munde),  1891,  pp.  826. 

"The  Treatment  of  Cancer  of  the  Uterus  with  the 
Sharp-edged  Scoop,  or  Curette,"  American  Journal  of 
Obstetrics,  August,  1872. 

"  The  Cranioclast  as  Improved  and  Used  by  the  Vienna 
School,"  ibid.,  May,  1873. 

"Retention  of  the  Dead  Ovum,"  ibid.,  1875— '76, 
vol.  viii. 

"A  Case  of  Presumptive  True  Lateral  Hermaphrodit- 
ism," ibid.,  February,  1876. 

"  The  Influence  on  the  Foetus  of  Medicines,  Particularly 
Narcotics,  Administered  to  the  Mother  during  Pregnancy 
and  Labor,"  ibid.,  1877. 

"  The  Value  of  Electrolysis  in  the  Treatment  of  Ovarian 
Tumors,"  American  Gynecological  Transactions,  1878, 
vol.  ii. 

"  A  Case  of  Ovariotomy  during  Subacute  Peritonitis 
and  Suppuration  of  the  Cyst  following  Aspiration ;  with 
Remarks,"  American  Journal  of  Medical  Sciences,  January, 
1878. 

"The  Dull  Wire  Curette  in  Gynecological  Practice" 
(presented  to  the  Edinburgh  Obstetrical  Society,  January  23, 
1878),  Edinburgh  Medical  Journal,  March  and  April,  1878. 

"Prolapse  of  the  Ovaries,"  American  Gynecological 
Transactions,  1879,  v°l-  *v- 

"The  Indications  for  Hystero-trachelorraphy,  or  the 
Operation  for  Laceration  of  the  Cervix  Uteri,"  American 
Journal  of  Obstetrics,  January,  1879. 

"  Obstetric  Palpation :  The  Diagnosis  and  Treatment 
of  Obstetric  Cases  by  External  (Abdominal)  Examination 


DR.  PAUL  F.  MUNDE. 


37 


and   Manipulation,"    reprint    from  American  Journal  of 
Obstetrics  for  July  and  August,  1879,  and  April,  1880. 

"Minor  Surgical  Gynecology:  A  Treatise  of  Uterine 
Diagnosis  and  the  Lesser  Technicalities  of  Gynecological 
Practice,  including  General  Rules  for  Gynecological  Op- 
erations and  the  Operations  for  Lacerated  Cervix  and 
Perineum,  and  Prolapsus  of  Uterus  and  Vagina,"  Wood's 
Library,  December,  1880,  and  2d  edition,  1885,  pp.  552. 

"  The  Diagnosis  and  Treatment  of  Obscure  Pelvic  Ab- 
scesses in  Women,  with  Remarks  on  the  Differential  Diag- 
nosis Between  Pelvic  Peritonitis  and  Pelvic  Cellulitis," 
Archives  of  Medicine,   December,    1880,  vol.  iv.,  No.   3. 

"  Case  of  Rupture  of  the  Parturient  Uterus,"  American 
Journal  of  Obstetrics,  April,  1881. 

The  Curability  of  Uterine  Displacements  ' '  (read  before 
the  International  Medical  Congress  in  London,  in  August, 
1 881),  ibid.,  October,  1881. 

"  Specialism  in  Medicine,"  Introductory  Address  before 
the  Medical  Class  of  Dartmouth  College,  August  2,  1882, 
Atlantic  Journal  of  Medicine,  Richmond,  Va.,  October, 
1883. 

"In  Memoriam,  J.  Marion  Sims,"  American  Journal 
of  Obstetrics,  January,  1884. 

"A  Successful  Case  of  Arrest  of  Tubal  Pregnancy  by 
Galvanism,"  Medical  Record,  September  27,  1884. 

"  The  Proper  Limitation  of  the  Operation  of  Complete 
Vaginal  Hysterectomy  for  Cancer  of  the  Uterus,"  Amer- 
ican Gynecological  Transactions,  1 884,  vol.  ix. 

"Two  Cases  of  Dangerous  Hemorrhage  from  Rupture 
of  the  Vagina  during  First  Coitus,"  Boston  Medical  and 
Surgical  Journal,  May  14,  1885. 

"Electricity  as  a  Therapeutic  Agent  in  Gynecology," 
American  Journal  of  Obstetrics,    December,  1885. 

"  The  Treatment  of  Pelvic  Abscess  in  Women  by  Incis- 
ion and  Drainage;  with  Reports  of  Ten  Cases,"  ibid., 
February,  1886. 


3§ 


DR.  MATTHEW  D.  MA XX. 


"Three  Cases  of  Pregnancy  Complicated  by  Ovarian 
Tumors,"  New  York  Medical  Journal,  August,  1887. 

"A  Year's  Work  in  Laparotomy"  (45  operations),  Amer- 
ican Journal  of  Obstetrics,  January  and  February,  1888. 

"My  Experience  with  the  Flap-splitting  Operation  for 
Lacerated  Perineum,"  ibid.,  1889. 

"  Does  Removal  of  the  Diseased  Tubes  and  Ovaries 
Permanently  Cure  the  Patient?"  Annals  of  Gynecology 
and  Pediatry,  1890. 

"Ten  Years' Experience  with  Alexander's  Operation 
for  Shortening  the  Round  Ligaments  of  the  Uterus," 
Medical  Record,  June  14,  1894. 

"Report  of  the  Gynecological  Service  of  Mt.  Sinai 
Hospital  for  Twelve  Years  from  1883  to  1895,"  American 
Journal  of  Obstetrics,  October,  Nov.  and  Dec,  1895. 

Dr.  Munde  married,  November  n,  1873,  Miss  Eleanor 
Claire  Hughes,  of  New  Haven,  Conn.  Their  two  chil- 
dren are  Bertha,  aged  eighteen  years,  and  Natalie  Morris, 
aged  twelve  years. 

MATTHEW    D.    MANN,  M.D., 

BUFFALO,    N.  Y. 

Dr.  Matthew  Derbyshire  Mann,  of  Buffalo,  New 
York,  was  born  in  Utica,  New  York,  July  12,  1845. 

He  is  of  old  New  England  stock,  except  on  the  side  of 
his  maternal  grandmother,  who  was  English.  His  father, 
Charles  A.  Mann,  was  a  prominent  lawyer  in  Utica.  He 
was  educated  in  the  common  schools  of  his  native  city 
until  1861,  when  he  went  abroad,  spending  nearly  two 
years  in  Europe.  Returning  in  1863,  he  entered  Yale 
College,  graduating  with  honors  in  1867,  and  receiving  his 
degree  of  A.M.  in  1870. 

After  a  few  months  spent  in  travel  in  the  West  he  began 
the  study  of  medicine  in  the  office  of  his  uncle,  Dr.  M. 


DR.  MATTHEW  D.  MANN. 


39 


M.  Bagg,  of  Utica,  New  York,  attending  his  first  course 
of  lectures  in  the  spring  of  1868  in  the  Long  Island 
Medical  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  in  New  York, 
from  which  he  was  graduated  in  1871. 

His  thesis  on  graduation  received  honorable  mention. 
In  the  fall  of  1870  he  entered  the  new  Stranger  Hospital 
as  interne  on  the  first  staff.  He  served  there  with  credit 
for  one  year.  In  that  hospital  he  came  under  the  influence 
of  Dr.  T.  G.  Thomas,  a  fact  which  doubtless  had  much 
to  do  with  shaping  his  future  career.  Having  finished  his 
service  in  the  hospital  in  1871,  he  went  to  Europe.  While 
there  he  studied  in  Paris  and  London  for  awhile,  spent 
several  months  with  Simon  and  Arnold  in  Heidelberg, 
and  seven  months  in  Vienna  studying  obstetrics  under 
Carl  Braun  and  pathology  under  Kundat.  He  also  spent 
some  time  in  travel,  visiting  Germany,  Switzerland,  and 
Italy,  as  well  as  Constantinople  and  the  East. 

Returning  to  New  York  in  1873,  ne  began  practice  in 
that  metropolis.  He  was  soon  appointed  to  several  dis- 
pensary positions,  and  also  as  instructor  in  the  College  of 
Physicians  and  Surgeons. 

After  a  residence  of  six  years  in  New  York  he  removed 
with  his  family  to  Hartford,  Conn.,  in  1879.  During 
these  six  years  in  New  York  he  devoted  himself  largely  to 
the  study  of  pathology  and  gynaecology. 

On  beginning  practice  in  Hariford  he  gave  up  all  gen- 
eral work  and  devoted  himself  solely  to  the  diseases  of 
women.  In  1880  he  was  appointed  Clinical  Lecturer  on 
Gynaecology  in  the  Medical  Department  of  Yale  College, 
which  position  he  held  for  two  years.  In  1882,  on  the 
death  of  Dr.  James  P.  White,  he  was  called  to  the  Chair 
of  Obstetrics  and  Gynaecology  in  the  Medical  Department 
of  the  University  of  Buffalo.  He  was  also  appointed 
Gynaecologist  to  the  Buffalo  General  Hospital,  and  later 
Obstetrician  to  the  same.  In  Buffalo  he  has  limited  him- 
self in  his  practice  to  gynaecology,  abdominal  surgery,  and 


40 


DR.  WILLIAM  H.  MAYFIELD. 


consultations  in  obstetrics.  In  abdominal  surgery  he  has 
performed  over  eight  hundred  operations;  his  mortality 
after  the  first  hundred,  which  were  done  in  the  pre-anti- 
septic  days,  being  about  5  per  cent. 

While  in  New  York  he  was  an  active  member  of  the 
New  York  Obstetrical  Society,  and  its  Secretary  and 
Pathologist.  He  has  also  been  an  active  member  of  the 
American  Gynaecological  Society,  contributing  several 
papers  to  its  Transactions.     He  was  its  President  in  1895. 

His  principal  literary  work  was  the  editing  of  the 
"American  System  of  Gynaecology."  He  has  been  a 
frequent  contributor  to  medical  periodicals.  His  paper 
(1874)  on  his  "Immediate  Treatment  of  Rupture  of  the 
Perineum"  was  about  the  first  publication  on  this  subject 
in  this  country.  He  has  also  published  a  "Manual  of 
Prescription  Writing,"  which  has  been  very  well  received. 

He  married,  in  1869,  Elizabeth  Pope,  of  St.  Paul,  Minn. 
They  have  seven  children. 


WILLIAM  H.  MAYFIELD,  M.D., 

ST.    LOUIS,    MO. 

Mayfield,  William  Henderson,  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  born 
January  18,  1852,  at  Patton,  Mo.,  is  the  son  of  George 
Washington  and  Polly  B.  (Cheek)  Mayfield,  and  the  grand- 
son of  Stephen  Mayfield,  a  Revolutionary  soldier  of  seven 
years'  service.  Dr.  Mayfield  was  educated  at  the  Carleton 
Institute  and  the  Fruitland  Normal  Institute.  At  the  age  of 
seventeen  he  began  to  teach  school,  at  the  same  time  con-, 
tinuing  to  pursue  his  studies.  During  the  eight  years  that 
he  taught  in  the  public  schools  a  revival  of  education  swept 
over  southeast  Missouri,  and  this,  together  with  his  efforts  in 
favor  of  Christian  education,  resulted  in  the  establishment 
of  the  Mayfield-Smith  Academy  at  Marble  Hill,  Mo.,  in 
1878.     This  school  is  now  in  a  most  prosperous  condition. 


*   '   . 


em.£). 


DR.  WILLIAM  H.  MAYFIELD. 


41 


He  first  commenced  the  study  of  medicine  at  Sedgwick- 
ville,  Mo.,  in  1874,  under  Dr.  H.  J.  Smith;  was  a  student 
for  three  years  at  the  St.  Louis  Medical  College,  from  which 
he  was  graduated  in  1883.  Being  of  a  family  inclined 
toward  surgery,  it  was  in  this  college  under  the  master 
hands  of  the  noted  surgeons,  J.  J.  McDowell  and  John  T, 
Hodgen,  that  he  developed  that  taste  for  surgery  which  has 
since  brought  him  into  the  arena  of  progressive  surgery. 
Dr.  Mayfield  then  commenced  the  practice  of  medicine  at 
Mayfield,  Mo.,  but  in  1884  removed  to  St.  Louis  to  accept 
a  chair  in  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  of  that 
city,  as  professor  of  materia  medica,  therapeutics,  and  dis- 
eases of  children. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  Dr.  Mayfield  conceived  the  plan 
of  founding  a  sanitarium,  as  he  was  overcrowded  with 
patients  from  the  country  and  elsewhere,  for  whom  it  was 
impossible  to  obtain  satisfactory  accommodations.  His 
private  house  was  thrown  open  and  all  who  could  be  cared 
for  were  taken  in  and  treated,  many  of  these  being  unable 
to  offer  other  remuneration  than  gratitude. 

It  was  in  1884  that  Dr.  Mayfield  founded  the  Missouri 
Baptist  Sanitarium,  which  is  now  one  of  the  largest  and 
best-equipped  hospitals  in  the  West,  valued  at  $125,000, 
and  he  has  since  been  its  superintendent  and  surgeon-in- 
chief.  His  practice  is  confined  to  general  and  gynecolog- 
ical surgery,  and  he  is  the  originator  of  an  operation  for 
laceration  of  the  perineum  which  is  pronounced  by  many 
physicians  who  have  witnessed  the  operation  performed  to 
be  the  ideal  operation.  Dr.  I.  N.  Love,  Vice-President  of 
the  American  Medical  Association,  in  remarks  on  Dr.  May- 
field's  paper,  read  before  the  Missouri  State  Medical  So- 
ciety, June,  1895,  said :  "  There  can  be  no  question  as  to 
Dr.  Mayfield's  claim  to  priority  in  the  operation  he  advo- 
cates. This  statement  is  made  because  recently  another 
operator  has  declared  himself  the  originator.  Some  of 
Dr.  Mayfield's  cases  were  reported  to  the  St.  Louis  Medical 


.2  DR.   WILLIAM  II.   MA  YFIELD. 

Society  at  least  five  years  ago,  long  before  anyone  eUe  had 
ever  attempted  this  method.  Justice  to  Dr.  Mayfield  de- 
mands recognition  of  his  rights  to  whatever  praise  is 
deserved  for  this  mode  of  treatment  of  lacerations  of  the 
perineum."  He  is  doing  a  great  amount  of  capital  sur- 
gery, and  Dr.  Piker,  of  Mississippi,  said  of  him  that  in 
this  work  "  he  combines  the  strength  of  a  lion  with  the  ten- 
derness of  a  child  and  the  sympathies  of  a  woman,"  making 
him  one  of  the  most  successful  operators  in  the  West. 

Dr.  Mayfield  is  a  member  of  the  St.  Louis  Medical  So- 
ciety, Mississippi  Valley  Medical  Society,  American  Medical 
Association,  and  honorary  member  of  the  Southern  Illinois 
Medical  Society.  He  is  a  charter  member  of  the  Hospital 
Saturday  and  Sunday  Association  of  St.  Louis,  and  was 
one  of  the  originators  of  this  movement  in  the  city. 

In  reviewing  the  life  of  this  eminent  surgeon,  it  is  pleas- 
ing to  note  a  few  extracts  taken  from  a  letter  addressed  to 
Elder  G.  W.  Hyde,  Superintendent  Missouri  Baptist  Sani- 
tarium, St.  Louis,  Mo.,  and  written  by  A.  S.  Ingram : . 
"  While  in  the  sanitarium  recently  as  a  patient,  I  observed 
so  many  and  difficult  cases  in  the  department  of  surgery 
that  I  asked  Dr.  Mayfield  to  give  me  a  summary  account 
of  the  charity  work  done  in  that  department.  He  declined 
to  do  so,  saying  that  the  amount  was  so  great  that  people 
would  be  incredulous  and  he  preferred  to  go  on  working 
without  reporting.  I  then  went  to  the  bookkeeper,  who 
gave  me  a  tabulated  statement.  Taking  from  this  state- 
ment the  one  item  of  surgery  done  by  Dr.  Mayfield  and 
the  assistants  supported  by  himself,  and  comparing  that 
item  with  the  American  Medical  Association's  fee  bill,  I 
find  the  astonishing  result  that  at  medium  rates  Dr.  May- 
field  contributed  to  suffering  humanity  more  than  $11,000, 
or  at  maximum  rates  more  than  $20,000  in  six  months — 
from  January  1  to  June  30,  1895.  This  would  make  the 
estimate  for  the  year  at  medium  rates  more  than  $22,000, 
or  at  maximum  rates  more  than  $40  000.     This  amount  of 


0^ 


£Z*Q. 


DR.   THOMAS  M.  DR  YSDALE.  a  3 

charity  work  in  one  line  is  certainly  gratifying. ' '  Rev.  Dr. 
G.  W.  Hyde  writes  :  "I  heard  the  head  surgeon  in  the  Mis- 
souri Pacific  Hospital,  Dean  of  Beaumont  Medical  College, 
and  late  President  of  St.  Louis  Medical  Society,  say  that 
though  Dr.  Mayfield  was  unpopular  in  certain  quarters  on 
account  of  carrying  his  religion  into  the  operating-room 
and  offering  prayers  at  the  surgical  table,  he  was  neverthe- 
less a  born  surgeon,  occupying  the  front  rank  in  his  pro- 
fession, and  personally  he  would  as  soon  have  Dr.  May- 
field  operate  upon  himself  as  any  man  in  the  world." 

The  Mayfield-Smith  Academy,  an  institution  of  learn- 
ing, was  founded  principally  by  Dr.  Mayfield's  prayers  and 
efforts.  On  May  10,  1874,  Dr.  Mayfield  was  married  to 
Miss  Ellen  C,  daughter  of  John  F.  Sitzes,  of  Marquand, 
Mo.  Miss  Sitzes  was  a  most  estimable  young  woman  and 
has  been  of  great  assistance  to  her  husband  in  his  work. 
They  have  one  living  child,  William  Henderson,  Jr.  Two 
children,  Ida  C.  and  Cary  Judson,  are  deceased. 


THOMAS    M.   DRYSDALE,  M.  D., 

PHILADELPHIA,    PA. 

Thomas  Murray  Drysdale,  of  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  the 
sixth  son  of  William  Drysdale,  who  was  a  descendant  of 
the  Murrays  of  Philiphaugh  and  a  near  relative  of  Sir 
Walter  Scott,  was  born  in  Philadelphia  on  the  31st  of 
August,  1831.  His  preliminary  education  was  received  in 
the  schools  of  the  Rev.  Joseph  P.  Eagles  and  the  Rev. 
Samuel  Crawford,  under  whose  tuition  he  was  prepared 
for  the  University  of  Pennsylvania.  In  March,  1849,  ne 
entered  upon  a  course  of  medical  instruction  in  the  office 
of  Dr.  Washington  L.  Atlee,  who  at  that  time  occupied 
the  chair  of  Chemistry  in  the  Pennsylvania  Medical  Col- 
lege ;  and,  in  connection  with  the  office  instruction  under 
this  distinguished  surgeon,  he  attended  the  collegiate  lee- 


44 


DR.   THOMAS  M.  DR  YSDALE. 


tures  and  became  his  preceptor's  assistant  in  the  labora- 
tory, of  which  he  had  entire  charge  during  the  last  two 
years  of  his  college  life.  He  was  graduated  from  the 
Pennsylvania  Medical  College  on  the  5  th  of  March,  1852, 
making  the  subject  of  his  thesis,  "  Liebig's  Theory  of 
Animal  Heat,"  which  he  supported  and  proved  to  be 
correct  by  a  carefully  conducted  series  of  experiments 
made  upon  himself  with  nitrogenous  and  non-nitrogenous 
food.  He  then  became  Dr.  Atlee's  assistant  in  his  sur- 
gical practice,  a  position  he  retained  for  fully  ten  years. 

In  the  year  following  graduation  Dr.  Drysdale  asso- 
ciated himself  with  Dr.  A.  Owen  Stille  and  Dr.  W.  Kent 
Gilbert  in  the  examination  of  students ;  and,  for  the  same 
purpose,  he  subsequently  united  with  Dr.  William  Go- 
brecht,  formerly  Professor  of  Anatomy  in  the  Medical  Col- 
lege of  Ohio,  and  Dr.  J.  Aitken  Meigs,  afterward  Pro- 
fessor of  Physiology  in  the  Jefferson  Medical  College. 

In  1855  he  was  elected  to  fill  the  chair  of  Chemistry  in 
the  Wagner  Free  Institute  of  Science,  made  vacant  by  the 
resignation  of  Professor  Rand.  Here  he  attracted  large 
audiences,  but  was  compelled  to  resign  the  position  to 
devote  himself  exclusively  to  other  duties  by  a  rapidly  in- 
creasing practice,  in  which  surgery  and  gynaecology  be- 
came his  specialties.  In  1861  he  performed  successfully 
his  first  operation  of  ovariotomy,  an  operation  which  at 
that  time  was  regarded  with  disfavor  by  the  medical  pro- 
fession, this  being  the  first  time  it  was  done  in  Philadel- 
phia by  any  other  surgeon  than  Dr.  W.  L.  Atlee.  Being 
appointed  one  of  its  Professors,  in  1862  he  delivered 
a  course  of  lectures  on  the  microscope  in  the  Franklin 
Institute,  which  reflected  great  credit  upon  his  abilities  as 
a  lecturer  and  microscopist.  The  study  of  the  microscope 
had  early  received  his  careful  attention,  and,  notwith- 
standing the  variety  of  professional  duties  which  crowded 
upon  him,  he  continued  to  make  microscopical  investiga- 
tions,  especially  of  the  fluid  of  dropsies,  adding  impor- 


DR.   THOMAS  M.  DR  YSDALE. 


45 


tant  facts  to  the  knowledge  of  the  profession  upon  subtle 
points  in  discussion  among  physicians. 

In  April,  1853,  he  was  elected  member  of  the  Philadel- 
phia County  Medical  Society,  became  its  Vice-President 
in  1875,  and>  in  x876,  its  President.  In  1854  he  was 
elected  a  member  of  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences. 
On  the  30th  of  April,  1861,  he  was  appointed  Assistant 
Surgeon  of  the  First  Regiment  of  Pennsylvania  Infantry, 
and  was  made  Surgeon  of  the  same  regiment  in  1863.  He 
has  been  a  member  of  the  Pennsylvania  State  Medical 
Society  since  1864,  and  was  its  Corresponding  Secretary 
in  1873-74. 

He  joined  the  American  Medical  Association  in  1873, 
and  the  American  Academy  of  Medicine  in  1879,  serving 
as  Vice-President  of  the  latter  society  in  1882.  He  was 
one  of  the  founders  of  the  American  Gynaecological  So- 
ciety in  1876,  and  was  a  member  of  the  International 
Medical  Congress  the  same  year.  In  1877  he  became  a 
member  of  the  Philadelphia  Pathological  Society  and  also 
of  the  Philadelphia  Obstetrical  Society,  serving  as  Vice- 
President  of  the  Obstetrical  Society  in  1881,  and  as  its 
President  in  1887  88.  In  1879  ne  received  the  honorary 
degree  of  A.  M.  from  Lafayette  College.  He  was  elected 
a  fellow  of  the  College  of  Physicians  in  1884,  and  a  mem- 
ber of  the  British  Medical  Association  in  1887.  In  1885 
he  was  appointed  Consulting  Surgeon  of  Girard  College, 
and,  in  1892,  Consulting  Gynaecologist  to  the  Medico- 
Chirurgical  Hospital.  Among  his  many  contributions  to 
medical  literature  the  following  are  perhaps  most  widely 
known : 

"  Case  of  Rupture  of  the  Common  Duct  of  the  Liver: 
Formation  of  a  Cyst  Containing  Bile."  American  Jour- 
nal of  the  Medical  Sciences,  April  1,  1861. 

"Dropsical  Fluids  of  the  Abdomen:  Their  Physical 
Properties,  Chemical  Analysis,  Microscopic  Appearance, 
and  Diagnostic  Value,  Based  on  the  Examination  of  Sev- 


46  DR.   THOMAS  M.  DRYSDALE. 

eral  Hundred  Specimens."    Chapter  XXLV.  of  Dr.  W.  L. 
Atlee's  work  on  The  Diagnosis  of  Ovarian  Tumors. 

"The  Granular  Cell  Found  in  Ovarian  Tumors."  A 
paper  read  before  the  American  Medical  Association,  and 
published  in  the  Proceedings  for  1873. 

"  Tracheotomy  in  Diphtheria  and  Pseudo-membranous 
Croup. ' '  An  address  delivered  before  the  Medical  Society 
of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  and  published  in  the  Pro- 
ceedings for  1874. 

"  On  the  Use  of  Chlorate  of  Potassa  in  Diphtheria  and 
Pseudo-membranous  Croup."  Medical  and  Surgical  Re- 
porter, March  17,  1877. 

"Colloid  Cancer  of  the  Abdomen."      Transactions  of 
the  Philadelphia  Pathological  Society,  June  13,  1878. 
.  "Life  of  Dr.  Washington  L.  Atlee."      Transactions  of 
the  Pennsylvania  State  Medical  Society,  October  10,  1879. 

"  The  Ovarian  Cell :  Its  Origin  and  Characteristics." 
Read  before  the  Gynaecological  Society  of  America,  and 
published  in  the  Transactions  for  1882. 

"An  Undescribed  Source  of  Danger  in  Ovariotomy." 
American  Journal  of  the  Medical  Sciences,  April,  1881, 
page  444. 

"Life  of  Dr.  W.  L.  Atlee."  New  York  Journal  of 
Obstetrics,  1879. 

"  Caesarean  Operation  for  the  Relief  of  an  Obstruction 
Caused  by  a  Uterine  Fibroma  Impacted  in  the  Pelvis." 
Medical  News,  November  26,  1887,  page  621. 

"An  Account  of  Three  Surgical  Cases."  American 
Journal  of  the  Medical  Sciences,  October,  1856,  page  359. 

Dr.  Drysdale's  abdominal  sections  have  been  numerous. 
In  his  long  practice  he  has  operated  more  than  two  hun- 
dred times  for  the  removal  of  ovarian  tumors  alone. 

In  October,  1857,  Dr.  Drysdale  married  Mary  L.  Atlee, 
the  second  daughter  of  his  preceptor. 


DR.  HENRY  D.  FRY.  *j 


HENRY   D.    FRY,  M.D., 

WASHINGTON,   D.  C. 

Dr.  Henry  D.  Fry  was  born  in  Richmond,  Virginia, 
April  ii,  1853.  His  ancestry  came  from  English  stock, 
and  its  first  noted  representative  in  this  country  was  Col. 
Joshua  Fry,  whose  name  is  so  closely  associated  with 
Virginia  in  the  early  colonial  days.  Joshua  Fry  was  born 
in  Somersetshire,  England,  and  was  educated  at  Oxford. 
It  is  uncertain  when  he  came  to  America,  but  his  name  is 
found  in  the  parish  register  as  a  vestryman  and  in  the 
records  of  the  Court  as  Commissioner  of  Essex  County, 
between  17 10  and  1720.  He  married  the  widow  of  Col. 
Hill,  a  large  landed  proprietor  on  the  Rappahannock 
River.  Her  maiden  name  was  Mary  Micou,  and  she  was 
daughter  of  Paul  Micou,  physician  and  surgeon,  a  Hugue- 
not exile  from  persecution  in  France. 

Col.  Joshua  Fry  settled  in  Madison  County,  and  the 
old  homestead,  which  is  still  standing  in  a  good  state  of 
preservation,  is  described  in  a  memoir  of  his  life,  pub- 
lished by  Rev.  P.  Slaughter,  as  "having  in  it  a  historical 
room  originally  dedicated  to  the  muses  of  music  and  the 
dance,  in  which  William  Wirt,  in  his  youth,  played  his 
pranks  and  wrote  comedies ;  where  Thomas  Jefferson,  in 
his  journeys  to  and  from  Washington,  in  his  French  lan- 
dau, refreshed  himself  with  hospitable  cheer."  Quoting 
from  the  same  work,  the  author  says:  "I  know  of  no 
other  person  in  our  history  of  like  social  position,  wealth, 
capacity,  character,  and  public  service  as  Col.  Fry,  about 
whom  there  is  so  little  to  be  found  in  print,  and  that  little 
so  scattered  in  infinitesimal  items.  We  have  to  trace  his 
career  by  the  posts  of  honor  which  he  filled,  as  we  would 
track  the  general  of  an  army  by  the  names  of  his  battles 
in  ignorance  of  the  details  of  his  campaign." 


48 


DR.  HENRY  D.   FRY. 


Among  the  posts  of  honor  we  find  he  occupied  a  pro- 
fessorship in  William  and  Mary  College.  The  foundation 
of  the  President's  house  of  that  institution  was  laid  on  the 
30th  of  July,  1732.  Joshua  Fry  was  one  of  the  five  who 
laid  the  first  five  bricks.  Many  honorable  trusts  were  con- 
fided to  him  by  the  Governor.  He  was  one  of  the  Com- 
missioners of  the  Crown  for  marking  the  line  denning  the 
western  limit  of  the  Northern  Necks  and  the  line  between 
Virginia  and  North  Carolina. 

In  1745,  with  Peter  Jefferson,  the  father  of  Thomas 
Jefferson,  he  finished  a  map  of  Virginia,  known  as  Fry 
and  Jefferson's  map.  In  1752  he  was  one  of  the  Com- 
missioners for  Virginia  in  negotiating  the  Treaty  of 
Logstown. 

•  In  1754  troops  were  raised  to  resist  French  aggression 
in  the  Ohio  Valley,  and  Governor  Dinwiddie  appointed 
Col.  Joshua  Fry  commander-in-chief  of  the  Virginia  regi- 
ment. George  Washington  was  lieutenant-colonel,  and 
went  in  advance  to  clear  a  road  for  the  artillery,  which 
was  to  follow  with  Col.  Fry.  When  the  expedition  had 
reached  Fort  Cumberland,  on  the  Potomac  River  at  the 
mouth  of  Wills'  Creek,  Col.  Fry  died,  May  31,  1754. 
George  Washington,  being  next  in  rank,  succeeded  to 
the  command.  Among  the  family  papers  is  a  manuscript 
which  states  that  Col.  Fry  was  buried  near  Fort  Cumber- 
land, and  that  Washington  and  the  army  attended  the 
funeral.  On  a  large  oak  tree,  which  now  stands  as  a  tomb 
and  a  monument  to  his  memory,  Washington  cut  the  fol- 
lowing inscription,  "  Under  this  oak  lies  the  body  of  the 
good,  the  just,  and  the  noble  Fry." 

Col.  Fry  made  Peter  Jefferson  his  executor  and  left  him 
his  mathematical  instruments.  Their  sons,  Rev.  Henry 
Fry  and  Thomas  Jefferson,  were  intimate  friends.  Among 
the  letters  in  possession  of  the  family  is  one  from  Thomas 
Jefferson  to  the  Rev.  Henry  Fry,  dated  Washington,  June 
17,  1804,  in  which  he  advises  him  to  ride  a  trotting  horse 


DR.   HENRY  D.  FRY.  ^g 

for  relief  of  his  "visceral  complaint."  Jefferson  says  he 
suffered  from  the  same  trouble,  and,  on  the  advice  of  Dr. 
Eustis,  of  Boston,  he  was  cured  by  Sydenham's  method  of 
riding  a  trotting  horse. 

Hugh  Walker  Fry,  Jr.,  the  fourth  lineal  descendant  of 
Col.  Joshua  Fry,  was  born  April  14,  1826.  He  grew  up 
and  received  his  education  in  Richmond,  and  with  his 
father  and  brothers  conducted  an  extensive  commission 
business.  He  entered  the  militia  service  of  his  State  when 
quite  young,  and  was  commissioned  first  lieutenant  when 
twenty-two  years  of  age.  At  the  breaking  out  of  the  Civil 
War  he  was  Major  of  the  179th  Virginia  Regiment,  and 
served  throughout  the  war  with  General  Henry  A.  Wise. 
He  married  Mary  L.,  daughter  of  John  Davidson,  of 
West  Washington,  D.  C,  and  the  only  living  offspring  of 
the  marriage  is  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  Dr.  Henry  D. 
Fry. 

His  boyhood  and  school  days  were  spent  in  Richmond 
and  Washington,  and  on  reaching  manhood  his  inclination 
led  him  to  the  study  of  medicine.  At  the  age  of  twenty- 
.  three  he  was  graduated  from  the  Medical  Department  of 
the  University  of  Maryland,  and  the  same  year  obtained 
an  appointment  by  competitive  examination  as  interne  in 
the  Jersey  City  Charity  Hospital. 

Having  completed  the  term  of  service  at  that  institution 
he  returned  to  Washington  in  1878,  and  commenced  the 
active  practice  of  his  profession.  He  formed  the  acquaint- 
ance of  Dr.  W.  W.  Johnston,  who  controlled  a  large  and 
select  clientele,  and  for  fourteen  years  they  were  associated 
in  practice.  This  intimate  friendship  has  continued  ever 
since,  and  Dr.  Johnston  has  never  lost  an  opportunity  to 
advance  the  interests  of  his  protege.  As  experience  was 
added  to  years,  Dr.  Fry  gradually  developed  a  taste  for 
special  work,  and  drifted  almost  unconsciously  into  gynae- 
cological and  obstetrical  practice. 

In  1890  he  visited  Europe  for  the  purpose  of  enlarging 

VOL.  II  4 


So 


DR.  HENRY  D.   FRY. 


his  knowledge  of  operative  work  by  scrutinizing  the 
methods  of  the  best  foreign  operators.  In  the  same  year 
Dr.  Fry  did  the  first  successful  Caesarean  section  ever  per- 
formed in  the  District  of  Columbia.  He  has  since  had  a 
second  successful  case.  Both  operations  were  done  after 
the  Sanger  method.  He  also  has  to  his  credit  the  per- 
formance of  the  first  symphysiotomy  in  the  District,  and 
saved  mother  and  child.  Dr.  Fry  was  an  early  advocate 
of  antiseptic  midwifery.  In  1887  he  translated  from  the 
French  Dr.  Paul  Bar's  Principles  of  Antiseptic  Methods 
Applied  to  Obstetric  Practice,  and  at  various  times  has  con- 
tributed to  medical  literature  articles  on  the  same  subject. 
His  most  recent  contribution  was  the  President's  Address 
for  1894  to  the  Washington  Obstetrical  and  Gynaeco- 
logical Society,  in  which  he  demonstrated  by  statistics 
from  the  Health  Department  of  Washington  that  deaths 
from  puerperal  septic  diseases  were  lamentably  frequent 
and  still  showed  a  lack  of  conformity  to  antiseptic  rules. 
He  has  sent  numerous  contributions  to  medical  periodicals 
on  gynaecological  and  obstetrical  subjects.  His  experi- 
ence covers  pretty  thoroughly  the  entire  field  of  gynae- 
cology, and  he  carries  into  his  operative  work  the  same 
firm  convictions  regarding  the  importance  of  a  strict 
adherence  to  aseptic  principles. 

In  1890  Dr.  Fry  was  appointed  Professor  of  Obstetrics 
in  the  Medical  Department  of  Georgetown  University. 
He  is  in  charge  of  the  gynaecological  and  obstetrical  ser- 
vice at  the  Garfield  Memorial  Hospital  ;  is  a  member  of 
several  local  medical  societies ;  was  President  for  several 
years  of  the  Washington  Obstetrical  and  Gynaecological 
Society,  and  is  a  member  of  different  national  medical 
societies,  among  them  the  American  Gynaecological. 

Dr.  Fry  married  Miss  Gertrude  M.  Campbell,  of  Wash- 
ington, who  died  in  1891,  leaving  him  two  little  girls. 


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DR.  EDMUND  CARLE  TON.  51 


EDMUND  CARLETON,  M.D., 

NEW    YORK,    N.   Y. 

Edmund  Carleton,  M.  D.,  was  born  at  Littleton,  N.  H., 
December  11,  1839.  His  father,  Edmund  Carleton,  Esq., 
a  well-known  lawyer,  and  his  mother,  Mrs.  Mary  K.  Carle- 
ton, a  woman  of  rare  endowments,  were  leaders  in  the 
anti-slavery  cause,  and  were  identified  with  the  religious 
and  philanthropic  movements  of  their  day. 

Before  their  son  could  be  fitted  for  college  financial 
reverses  interfered.  Classics  gave  way  to  farming  and 
land  surveying.  When  partially  qualified  for  the  bar  (his 
father's  ambition),  attendance  upon  one  term  of  jury  trials 
was  so  distasteful  that  it  settled  in  the  negative  all  thought 
of  a  legal  career.  The  value  of  a  legal  training,  when 
"taking"  the  symptoms  of  a  difficult  case,  has  since 
become  evident. 

He  was  an  attache  of  the  Boston  Journal  in  1 864,  saw 
all  the  great  battles  in  Virginia  that  year  up  to  the  siege 
of  Petersburg,  besides  much  military  surgery,  which  inter- 
ested him  greatly.  His  perilous  ride,  May  24th,  from 
Grant's  headquarters  to  Fredericksburg,  whence  he  secured, 
by  stratagem,  transportation  to  Acquia  Creek  and  Wash- 
ington, with  dispatches  for  the  Boston  Journal  and  New 
York  Tribune,  was  considered  a  great  ''beat"  by  news- 
paper men,  and  his  return  trip  to  the  front,  in  spite  of 
Secretary  Stanton's  orders  to  the  contrary,  more  wonder- 
ful still.  In  front  of  Petersburg  he  was  taken  with  fever, 
sent  North,  cured  by  homoeopathy  and  converted  to  it. 
His  life-work  may  be  said  to  date  from  that  event. 

His  medical  education  was  received  at  the  Hahnemann 
Medical  College,  Philadelphia,  and  the  New  York  Homoeo- 
pathic Medical  College,  being  graduated  from  the  latter  in 
187 1.     In  addition  to  the  legal  requirements,  he  took  a 


52 


DR.   EDMUND  CARLE  TON. 


special  course  in  anatomy  and  surgery.  He  has  practised 
in  New  York  City  continuously  since  graduation. 

Although  considered  a  specialist  by  many,  his  intimate 
friends  know  that  he  is  not  one,  but  is  a  homoeopathic 
physician,  believing  in  and  practising  pure  homoeopathy 
as  specified  by  Hahnemann.  He  prefers  cures  to  mutila- 
tions. His  record  shows  many  cured  cases  which  by  most 
medical  men  would  have  been  relegated  to  the  knife.  He 
was  for  many  years  Professor  of  Surgery  in  the  New  York 
Medical  College  and  Hospital  for  Women,  where  he  was 
conspicuous  as  teacher  and  examplar;  is  surgeon  to  the 
Metropolitan  Hospital,  Blackwell's  Island,  besides  holding 
many  other  active  and  honorary  positions  in  the  profes- 
sional world.  He  does  not  hesitate  to  perform  operations 
of  the  first  magnitude  if  they  are  in  his  judgment  advisable. 

One  notable  ovariotomy,  in  May,  1886,  should  be  men- 
tioned here.  The  patient  was  fifty-seven  years  old;  the 
tumor  said  to  be  about  four  years  old ;  removed  through 
an  incision  four  inches  long ;  generally  adherent,  many  of 
the  adhesions  being  as  large  and  thick  as  the  hand,  and 
detached  mainly  with  the  thumb-nails  ;  pedicle  transfixed, 
and  first  each  half  and  then  the  whole  ligated  with  No.  7 
silk,  one  ligature;  stump  formed  with  ecraseur;  stump 
and  all  raw  parts  bathed  with  a  weak  mixture  of  calendula 
and  water;  cavity  dried;  incision  sutured  with  silver, 
strapped,  and  dressed  with  clean  linen.  Time,  2^  hours; 
ether,  ij^  pounds;  weight  of  cyst  (multilocular)  and  con- 
tents, 150^  pounds.  After-treatment,  homoeopathic  to 
such  symptoms  as  appeared,  some  of  them  being  severe. 
Water  allowed  freely ;  milk  in  moderation  until  convales- 
cence was  well  advanced;  then  diet  increased.  Patient 
was  well  in  a  month.  The  operation  was  performed  in  a 
humble,  old  house,  carefully  cleaned.  The  details  have 
been  given  above,  as  they  epitomize  Dr.  Carleton's  views 
and  practice. 


DR.  ELIZABETH  C.  KELLER.  53 


ELIZABETH  C.  KELLER,  M.D., 

BOSTON,    MASS. 

Elizabeth  Catharine  Keller,  physician  and  surgeon, 
was  born  in  a  small  town  near  Gettysburg,  Penna.,  April 
4,  1837.   She  was  the  eighth  of  a  family  of  twelve  children. 

Her  father,  Capt.  Wm.  Rex  (War  of  181 2),  a  native  of 
Adams  County,  Pa.,  was  a  man  of  uncompromising  in- 
tegrity and  great  intelligence.  The  mother  was  a  woman 
who  moved  in  the  orbit  of  her  home  with  all  the  gentle, 
wifely,  and  motherly  graces.  Both  parents  were  strong 
adherents  of  the  Lutheran  Church.  The  grandparents  on 
both  sides  were  Germans. 

Elizabeth,  with  her  brothers  and  sisters,  attended  the 
district  school,  making  good  use  of  time  and  opportunity. 
Elizabeth  had  a  private  tutor  for  three  years,  and  became 
herself  a  successful  teacher  for  seven  years.  Her  father,  a 
thrifty  farmer,  received  much  help  from  his  children,  and 
Elizabeth  added  her  energy  to  that  of  her  brothers. 

Her  superabundant  physical  health  often  carried  her 
beyond  the  ordinary  limit,  as  she  pitted  her  strength 
against  that  of  her  brothers  in  out-door  life.  She  under- 
stood all  the  details  of  farm  work,  from  the  building  of 
stone  walls,  the  clearing  of  fields,  shearing  of  sheep,  and 
the  picking  of  geese,  to  the  spinning  of  flax  and  wool. 

Her  special  care  was  for  sick  and  wounded  animals. 
This  tendency  early  manifested  itself,  and  seemed  to  fore- 
shadow her  later  profession. 

She  was  endowed  with  a  deeply  religious  nature,  and  at 
an  early  age  became  a  zealous  worker  in  the  church,  lead- 
ing class-meetings,  giving  Bible-readings,  and  teaching  in 
the  Sunday-school. 

At  one  time  she  was  almost  persuaded  that  a  missionary 
life  was  her  vocation,  so  brimming  was  she  with  possibil- 


c4  DR.  ELIZABETH  C.  KELLER. 

ities  for  any  line  of  work  which  would  bring  into  use  her 
higher  faculties. 

In  1857  she  married  Matthias  McComsey,  of  Lancaster, 
Pa.  In  1858  her  son  was  born,  and  within  two  years  she 
was  a  widow. 

In  i860  she  was  appointed  Superintendent  of  the  Lan- 
caster Orphans'  Home,  which  later  became  the  Soldiers' 
Orphans'  Home.  For  seven  years  she  had  charge  of  hun- 
dreds of  children  provided  for  in  that  institution.  Her 
management  was  characterized  by  faithful  and  energetic 
devotion.  She  filled  the  threefold  office  of  mother, 
teacher,  and  physician,  treating  the  various  diseases  inci- 
dent to  childhood  with  success. 

In  1867  she  married  Geo.  L.  Keller,  and  went  to  Phila- 
delphia to  live.  Here  she  was  thrown  among  medical 
women  in  connection  with  the  Woman's  Hospital,  and 
her  natural  aptitude  for  medical  work  assumed  definite 
shape,  and  with  the  full  approval  of  her  husband  she  en- 
tered the  Woman's  Medical  College  of  Pennsylvania  in 
1868,  graduating  in  1871. 

After  graduation  she  immediately  opened  a  hospital  and 
dispensary  in  Bedford  Street,  Philadelphia,  and  within  a 
year  was  appointed  successor  to  Dr.  Ann  Preston  on  the 
Board  of  Attending  Physicians  of  the  Woman's  Hospital 
of  Philadelphia,  which  position  she  filled,  while  engaged  in 
private  practice,  until  1875,  when  she  was  appointed  Resi- 
dent Physician  of  the  New  England  Hospital  for  Women, 
in  Boston,  Mass.  In  1877  she  entered  upon  private  prac- 
tice in  Jamaica  Plain,  where  she  now  holds  a  place  of 
honor  in  the  profession  and  the  community. 

But  it  is  in  the  department  of  surgery  where  Dr.  Keller 
has  exhibited  qualities  which  justly  place  her  in  the  front 
rank,  not  only  among  women,  but  among  surgeons.  Dur- 
ing the  twenty  years  in  which  she  has  held  the  position  of 
Senior  Operating  Surgeon  at  the  New  England  Hospital 
her  terms  cf  service  have  been  full  of  thorough,  ingenious, 


DR.   ELIZABETH  C.  KELLER. 


55 


and  progressive  work,  including  not  only  minor  surgery, 
but  the  reduction  of  fractures,  amputations,  and  abdom- 
inal surgery.  A  true  optimist,  Dr.  Keller  carries  the  in- 
herent principles  of  success  into  the  operating-room, 
where  her  quiet,  cheerful  mien  marks  her  as  one  in  full 
command  of  the  situation.  As  an  operator  she  is  cool 
and  deliberate,  yet  prompt  and  decided  ;  cautious,  but 
ready ;  deft-handed  and  fertile  in  resource.  From  the  first 
incision  each  movement  tells,  and,  with  no  appearance  of 
hurry,  work  moves  rapidly  on.  To  her  corps  of  internes 
she  is  an  inspiration  ;  each  step  in  the  work  is  made  an 
object  lesson.  Knowing  the  vital  importance  of  correct 
emergency  treatment,  she  instructs  them  in  improvising 
apparatus  from  material  at  hand,  and  many  an  appliance, 
made  up  from  the  wood-house  and  attic,  has,  by  its  ready 
utility,  enforced  essential  principles  in  surgery  never  to  be 
forgotten. 

Great  as  she  is  in  her  profession,  Dr.  Keller  has  that 
genius  of  character  that  would  give  her  prominence  in 
whatever  position  she  might  fill.  She  has  a  commanding 
presence,  a  fine  physique,  and  manners  that  are  affable  and 
magnetic.  Thus  she  wins  her  way  without  effort.  She  is 
a  ready  and  forceful  speaker  upon  various  subjects,  and  her 
interest  is  vivid  whether  the  occasion  be  the  dedication  of 
a  new  school-house,  the  presentation  of  graduate  diplomas, 
the  rehearsal  of  the  last  interesting  case,  or  the  discussion 
of  some  vital  topics  of  the  day. 

All  questions  pertaining  to  the  advancement  of  the 
world,  particularly  of  women,  lie  very  close  to  her  heart. 
Broad  and  catholic  in  spirit,  generous  and  forgiving  toward 
human  frailty,  she  can  yet  be  righteously  indignant  in  the 
face  of  wrong  and  fearless  in  its  denunciation. 

That  she  can  carry  so  much  responsibility  in  her  profes- 
sion and  do  so  much  earnest  work  in  other  directions,  is  a 
source  of  wonder  to  her  friends.  Since  1890  Dr.  Keller 
has  been  a  member  of  the  Boston  School  Board,  holding 


56 


DR.  ELIZABETH  C.  KELLER. 


the  position  with  distinguished  honor  and  credit.  She  has 
done  most  effective  work  as  a  member  of  the  Committees 
on  Text  Books,  Hygiene,  and  Examinations.  She  is  at  the 
present  time  Chairman  of  a  division  which  includes  seven 
large  grammar  schools,  with  all  the  colonies  and  primaries, 
of  which  she  is  expected  to  know  the  condition  and  the 
needs ;  to  nominate  for  them  suitable  teachers  and  to 
decide  vexed  questions  of  discipline — in  a  word,  to  keep 
these  schools  up  to  the  recognized  standard  ;  and  she  has 
gained  the  confidence  and  respect  of  all  who  have  come 
in  contact  with  her  in  this  special  department. 

With  all  this  varied  work  she  is  not  unmindful  of  the 
sweet  amenities  of  life.  Her  home  in  Jamaica  Plain, 
Mass.,  is  made  attractive  with  music,  pictures,  and  books, 
and  a  most  hospitable  welcome  awaits  all  her  friends, 
while  plenty  and  good-cheer  crown  the  board. 

Within  the  past  few  years  she  has  planned  and  superin- 
tended the  building  of  seven  houses. 

During  the  summer  months  Dr.  Keller  repairs  to  her 
beautiful  mountain  retreat  in  Jaffrey,  N.  H.,  where  she 
tosses  care  to  the  breezes  and  invites  a  well-earned  rest, 
and  almost  any  day  one  may  see  her  driving  her  fine  span 
of  horses  over  those  mountain  roads.  Dr.  Keller  has  not 
lived  unto  herself  alone.  She  has  provided  home  and  edu- 
cation for  three  orphan  nieces,  one  of  whom,  Dr.  Ida  F. 
Curry,  a  girl  of  rare  promise,  died  in  the  second  year  of 
her  practice ;  her  daughter,  Helen,  is  prepared  to  enter 
Smith  College  this  year,  and  an  interesting  grandchild,  the 
daughter  of  her  only  son,  completes  the  happy  picture  of 
young  life  in  the  household. 


DR.  FRANCIS  E.  DOUGHTY.  *y 

FRANCIS  E.  DOUGHTY,  M.D., 

NEW    YORK,   N.    Y. 

Francis  E.  Doughty,  M.D.,  second  son  of  Samuel 
G.  and  Jane  Rebecca  (nee  Hart)  Doughty,  was  born  in 
Troy,  New  York,  August  14th,  in  the  year  1847. 

He  is  descended  from  the  Rev.  Francis  Doughty,  a 
Puritan  pastor,  who  emigrated  to  this  country  from  Eng- 
land in  the  year  1633. 

Dr.  Doughty's  father  was  a  prominent  wholesale  grocery 
merchant.     He  moved  to  New  York  with  his  family  in 

1854. 

The  Doctor  received  his  literary  education  chiefly  in 
the  commercial  and  collegiate  institutes  of  New  Haven, 
Conn.,  and  Yonkers,  N.  Y.,  principally  in  the  latter,  from 
which  he  was  graduated  in  the  year  1866. 

From  his  early  youth  he  had  a  desire  to  be  a  surgeon, 
and  commenced  his  medical  studies  during  his  last  year  in 
school.  After  his  graduation  he  entered  the  College  of 
Physicians  and  Surgeons,  New  York,  and  it  was  from  this 
institution  he  received  his  diploma  at  the  commencement 
in  the  spring  of  1869,  although  he  had  passed  the  exami- 
nation and  was  licensed  to  practise  medicine  in  the  fall  of 
1868,  at  which  time  he  engaged  upon  the  practice  of  his 
profession.  Shortly  after  his  graduation  he  was  appointed 
one  of  the  attending  surgeons  to  the  New  York  Homoeo- 
pathic Dispensary,  and  later  associate  house  physician  to 
that  institution.  He  was  also  appointed  Professor  of  Sur- 
gery in  the  New  York  Medical  College  and  Hospital  for 
Women,  which  chair  he  occupied  for  three  years. 

In  the  year  1872  he  was  invited  to  take  the  chair  of 
Genito-urinary  Diseases  in  the  New  York  Homoeopathic 
Medical  College,  and  he  held  this  position  until  the  year 
1894,  when  he  resigned  to  assume  the  position  of  Professor 


53 


DR.  FRANCIS  E.  DOUGHTY. 


of  Surgical  Gynaecology  in  the  same  institution,  which 
chair  he  still  occupies.  For  ten  years  he  served  as  Pro- 
fessor of  Anatomy  in  this  college,  with  great  credit  to  him- 
self as  a  thorough  anatomist. 

When  the  present  Hahnemann  Hospital  was  organized 
he  was  appointed  one  of  the  attending  surgeons,  and  did 
active  duty  for  nearly  twenty  years.  When  the  Commis- 
sioners of  Charity  and  Correction  placed  one  of  the  large 
public  hospitals  under  the  care  of  the  homoeopathies  he  was 
elected  one  of  the  surgeons,  and  resigned  that  position  after 
a  service  of  more  than  ten  years. 

For  twenty  years  Dr.  Doughty  served  as  attending  sur- 
geon to  the  Five  Points  House  of  Industry,  devoting  much 
of  his  valuable  time  and  energy  to  this  work.  At  the 
present  time  he  is  consulting  surgeon  to  the  Laura  Franklin 
Free  Hospital  for  Children,  which  position  he  has  held 
since  the  foundation  of  this  noble  charity.  He  is  also 
attending  surgeon  to  the  Flower  Hospital  in  connection 
with  the  college. 

He  is  a  member  of  the  American  Institute  of  Homoe- 
opathy (1872);  of  the  State  and  County  Homoeopathic 
Medical  Societies.  He  is  a  member  of  the  New  York 
Medical  Club  and  the  Jahr  Club,  also  member  of  the  St. 
Nicholas  Society,  New  York  City  Club,  and  the  Fencers. 

The  Doctor  is  a  fluent,  easy  writer,  and  many  valuable 
and  interesting  articles  from  his  pen  have  frequently  ap- 
peared in  the  North  American  Journal  of  Homceopathy. 
As  a  teacher  he  has  been  eminently  successful,  his 
lectures  being  delivered  extemporaneously  and  in  a  con- 
versational style,  and  he  possesses  in  a  high  degree  the 
happy  faculty  of  being  able  to  impart  his  own  knowledge 
to  his  hearers. 

He  devotes  himself  chiefly  to  surgical  practice,  and  has 
attained  a  high  reputation  as  a  skilful,  careful,  and  con- 
scientious operator.  He  has  a  large  surgical  practice,  and 
is  eminently  successful  in  abdominal  cases. 


DR.  J.    WESLEY  BOVEE. 


59 


He  has  an  active,  profound  mind,  eager  for  new  knowl- 
edge, and  earnest  in  his  desire  to  obtain  truth  upon  all 
subjects.  His  ideas  are  broad  and  conservative.  He  has 
added  honor  to  his  profession  by  contributing  liberally  to 
many  charitable  causes.  He  is  genial  and  kind  in  his  bear- 
ing, and  true  to  those  who  claim  his  friendship. 

The  Doctor  was  married  in  the  year  1S68,  to  Miss 
Hannah  M.  Starr,  by  whom  he  has  had  three  children,  only 
one  of  whom,  a  daughter,  survives. 


J.  WESLEY  BOVEE,  M.D., 

WASHINGTON,    D.    C. 

John  Wesley  Bovee  was  born  December  31,  1861,  in 
the  town  of  Clayton,  in  Jefferson  County,  New  York 
State.  His  birthplace  was  near  the  banks  of  the  St.  Law- 
rence River  near  by  the  Thousand  Islands — one  of  nature's 
beauty  spots.  Its  high  latitude,  at  least  in  part,  accounts 
for  the  sturdy,  rugged  people  that  live  in  that  section, 
and  to  those  who  personally  know  Dr.  Bovee  it  is  not 
necessary  to  state  that  he  is  of  the  same  type.  His  early 
education  was  obtained  in  his  native  county  at  high 
schools  and  from  private  tutors.  From  1879  to  1^2  he 
was  engaged  as  a  public  school  teacher.  In  1882  he  re- 
moved to  Washington,  D.  C,  to  begin  the  study  of  med- 
icine, and  in  October  of  that  year  matriculated  in  the 
medical  department  of  Columbian  University.  From 
this  institution  of  learning  he  received  the  degree  of  Doctor 
of  Medicine  in  March,  1885. 

In  September,  1884,  after  a  competitive  examination, 
he  was  appointed  Assistant  Resident  Physician  of  the 
Children's  Hospital,  and  resigned  from  that  position  in 
1885  to  accept  the  position  of  Resident  Physician  in 
Columbia   Hospital    for  Women    and    Lying-in   Asylum, 


60  DR.  J.    WESLEY  BOVEE. 

which  afforded  him  a  large  experience  in  gynaecology 
and  obstetrics. 

In  1888  he  resigned  from  this  position  to  enter  on  the 
private  practice  of  his  profession.  The  same  year  he  was 
appointed  on  the  medical  staff  of  the  Central  Dispensary  as 
an  assistant,  resigning  from  the  same  the  following  year. 
In  1889  was  appointed  Visiting  Physician  to  Washington 
Asylum  Hospital,  in  1890  Attending  Physician  to  St. 
Ann's  Infant  Asylum,  in  1891  Obstetric  Surgeon  to  Co- 
lumbia Hospital,  and  the  same  year  Attending  Physician 
to  Providence  Hospital.  In  1893  he  was  transferred  from 
the  obstetrical  to  the  gynaecological  service  in  Columbia 
Hospital  for  Women,  from  Attending  Physician  to  Gynae- 
cologist to  Providence  Hospital,  and  in  St.  Ann's  Infant 
Asylum  was  transferred  from  attending  to  consulting  staff. 

He  at  present  holds  the  same  hospital  positions.  From 
1892  to  1896  he  held  the  chair  of  Gynaecology  and  Clin- 
ical Obstetrics  in  the  medical  department  of  National 
University,  which  position  he  resigned  to  accept  the  posi- 
tion of  Clinical  Professor  in  Columbian  University.  He  is 
a  member  of  the  American  Medical  Association,  of  the 
Medical  Association  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  of  the 
Washington  Obstetrical  and  Gynaecological  Society,  of 
the  Southern  Surgical  and  Gynaecological  Society,  of  the 
Board  of  Examiners  for  Applicants  for  Physicians  to  the 
Poor  of  District  of  Columbia,  Vice-President  of  the  Med- 
ical Society  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  and  ex- Vice- 
President  and  ex-President  of  the  Medical  and  Surgical 
Society  of  the  District  of  Columbia.  He  has  contributed 
quite  a  number  of  papers  on  various  gynaecological, 
pediatric,  and  obstetrical  subjects  to  medical  journals. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  descended  on  his  paternal 
side  from  a  French  family,  members  of  which  came  to 
this  country  late  in  the  eighteenth  and  early  in  the  present 
century,  and  settled  in  New  York.  One  of  these,  Jean 
Bovee,  settled  on  the  Hudson,  and  one  of  his  sons,  John, 


. 


DR.  HENRY  T.  BYFORD.  §i 

married  Emeline  Baird,  a  relative  of  General  Winfield 
Scott,  and  to  this  union  were  born  ten  children,  seven  of 
whom  are  now  living.  One  of  the  ten,  William  Henry, 
was  married  to  Sarah  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  John  Wesley 
Roat,  both  of  whose  parents  were  natives  of  Amsterdam, 
Holland. 

To  William  Henry  and  his  wife,  Sarah  Elizabeth,  were 
born  several  children,  among  them  being  John  Wesley 
Bovee,  whose  life-sketch  is  here  given.  In  1889  he  mar- 
ried Miss  Katharine,  the  daughter  of  John  Seager,  one  of 
an  old  Pennsylvania  family  that  traces  its  ancestry  back 
to  the  time  of  Charles  II.  of  England. 

Mrs.  Bovee  was  educated  in  the  Notre  Dame  Convent 
in  Milwaukee,  Wisconsin,  and  the  Academy  of  the  Visita- 
tion in  Georgetown,  D.  C. 


HENRY  T.  BYFORD,  M.D., 

CHICAGO,    ILL. 

Dr.  Henry  T.  Byford,  son  of  Dr.  William  H.  Byford 
and  brother  of  Dr.  William  H.  Byford,  Jr.,  was  born  at 
Evansville,  Ind.,  November  12,  1S53.  He  studied  the 
classics  in  the  high  schools  of  Berlin  from  1865  to  1868, 
and  finished  his  literary  studies  at  the  Scientific  Depart- 
ment of  Williston  Seminary.  He  graduated  from  the 
Medical  Department  of  the  Northwestern  University  in 
1873,  before  reaching  his  twentieth  birthday. 

His  contributions  to  gynaecological  periodical  literature, 
invention  of  instruments,  and  of  new  operative  proced- 
ures are  numerous.  He  is  one  of  the  authors  of  the  Amer 
ican  Textbook  of  Gynaecology,  of  Keating  &  Coe's  Clinical 
Gynaecology,  and  of  Byford's  Diseases  of  Women,  and  also 
the  author  of  Byford's  Manual  of  Gynaecology. 

He   is   Professor  of  Gynaecology  and   Clinical   Gynae- 


62  DR.  J.  BAR  VIE  DEW. 

cology  in  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  of 
Chicago  and  in  the  Chicago  Post- Graduate  Medical 
School,  Professor  of  Clinical  Gynaecology  in  the  Women's 
Medical  School  of  the  Northwestern  University,  Surgeon 
to  the  Woman's  Hospital  of  Chicago,  Honorary  President 
of  the  International  Congress  of  Gynaecology  and  Ob- 
stetrics and  also  of  the  International  Congress  of  Obstet- 
rics and  Gynaecology  of  Bordeaux,  Member  of  the  British 
Gynaecological  Society,  American  Gynaecological  Society, 
Chicago  Gynaecological  Society,  Corresponding  Member 
of  the  Obstetrical  and  Gynaecological  Society  of  Phila- 
delphia, etc. 


J.  HARVIE  DEW,  M.D., 

NEW    YORK,    N.    Y. 

Dr.  James  Harvie  Dew  is  a  typical  representative  of 
that  active,  enterprising  set  of  Southern  men  who,  during 
the  latter  part  of  the  sixties,  found  their  way  to  New  York 
to  seek  success  and  reputation  where  the  struggle  was 
fiercest.  He  was  born  October  18,  1843,  %va-  Newtown, 
King  and  Queen  County,  Va. 

His  father,  Benjamin  Franklin  Dew,  a  courteous  and 
genial  gentleman  of  the  old  Virginia  type,  was  graduated 
from  William  and  Mary  College,  taking  successively  the 
degrees  of  B.A.,  M.A.,  and  B.L.  He  was  an  extensive 
land-owner,  and  one  of  his  estates  was  the  historic  "Mal- 
vern Hill,"  where  the  celebrated  battle  of  that  name  was 
fought  in  1862. 

His  grandfather  was  Thomas  Dew,  a  captain  in  the  War 
of  ]Si2,  and  a  descendant  of  the  Hon.  Thomas  Dew,  a 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Burgesses  in  the  old  colonial  days 
of  Virginia. 

His  mother  was  Mary  Susan,  daughter  of  Col.  Reuben  M. 
Garnett,  also  of  King  and  Queen  County.     He  is  a  nephew 


-yj&A 


DR.  J.  HA R VIE  DEW.  63 

of  the  late  Thomas  R.  Dew,  a  successful  and  most  distin- 
guished professor,  writer,  and  President  of  the  old  William 
and  Mary  College,  and  a  brother  of  Judge  John  G.  Dew, 
of  Virginia. 

Dr.  Dew  was  educated  at  Prof.  Gessner  Harrison's  Pre- 
paratory School  and  at  the  University  of  Virginia.  His 
academic  course  of  study  was  interrupted  by  the  outbreak 
of  the  War  in  1861,  and  at  the  age  of  eighteen  he  enlisted 
in  "  Lee's  Partisan  Rangers,"  commanded  by  R.E.Lee's 
son,  William  H.  F.,  afterward  Maj.  Gen.  Lee.  This  troop 
was  soon  merged  into  the  Ninth  Virginia  Cavalry,  and  here 
he  served  until  the  close  of  the  contest,  under  "Jeb" 
Stuart  and  his  successors. 

This  service  afforded  the  experience  and  opportunity 
which  enabled  the  doctor  to  publish  "  a  most  unique  and 
valuable"  contribution  to  the  history  of  the  war,  present- 
ing the  conditions,  circumstances,  and  peculiarities  which 
led  to  the  development  and  characteristic  features  of  the 
"Yankee  and  Rebel  Yells."  This  article  appeared  in  the 
April  number  of  the  Century  Magazine  for  1892. 

Dr.  Dew  commenced  the  study  of  medicine  in  January, 

1866.  His  preceptors  were  Dr.  William  D.  Quesenbery, 
of  Virginia,  and  Dr.  Joseph  W.  Howe,  of  New  York.  He 
was  graduated  from  the  University  of  A'irginia  in  June, 

1867.  Served  as  House  Physician  and  Surgeon  to  the 
Charity  Hospital,  New  York,  from  April,  1868,  to  Octo- 
ber, 1869,  and  commenced  the  practice  of  his  profession 
in  1870. 

He  was  appointed  Professor  of  Anatomy,  Physiology, 
and  Hygiene  in  the  New  York  Evening  High  School  in 
1872,  and  continued  his  lectures,  with  great  credit  to  him- 
self, till  1 88 1,  when  the  urgency  of  his  professional  work 
induced  his  resignation. 

His  experience  in  a  great  hospital  for  all  diseases,  and 
the  universal  applicability  of  the  subjects  upon  which  he 
lectured  for  so  many  years,  have  served  especially  to  qualify 


64  DR.  J.   S.  BARNARD. 

him  for  general  practice.  In  this  field  and  in  obstetrics 
he  has  met  with  eminent  success. 

Dr.  Dew  is  a  member  of  the  New  York  Academy  of 
Medicine,  the  Medical  Society  of  the  County  of  New 
York,  the  Alumni  Association  of  the  Charity  Hospital, 
the  County  Medical  Association,  and  of  the  New  York 
Southern  and  other  societies. 

Among  his  literary  efforts  he  has  recently  contributed  a 
paper  "  Establishing  a  New  Method  of  Artificial  Respira- 
tion in  Asphyxia  Neonatorum,"  called  "  Dew's  Method," 
which  was  read  before  the  New  York  Academy  of  Medi- 
cine in  February,  1893.  This  method  has  to  date  met  with 
almost  universal  approbation,  and  has  already  been  taught 
in  a  number  of  our  leading  medical  schools. 

Dr.  Dew  was  married  in  1885  to  Miss  Bessie  Martin,  only 
daughter  of  Dr.  Edmund  H.  Martin,  late  of  Memphis, 
Tenn.,  now  of  Louisville,  Ky.  They  have  one  child, 
Caroline  Welborn  Dew. 


J.  S.  BARNARD,  M.D., 

BALTIMORE,    MD. 

James  Sherman  Barnard,  M.D.,  youngest  son  of  James 
B.  Barnard,  was  born  June  25,  1857,  at  Carlton,  Orleans 
County,  N.  Y.  His  ancestors  came  to  this  country  from 
England  among  the  Pilgrims  of  the  "Mayflower,"  and 
the  family  subsequently  settled  in  New  Bedford,  Mass. 

His  father  was  a  farmer  holding  high  social  and  political 
position  in  the  community  in  which  he  lived.  Dr.  Bar- 
nard's boyhood  was  spent  upon  the  farm,  and  his  early 
educational  opportunities  were  limited  to  those  afforded 
by  an  average  country  school.  At  the  age  of  thirteen, 
however,  he  left  his  home  to  pursue  his  studies  systemati- 
cally in  the  academy  and  high  school  of  Albion,  N.  Y. 


DR.  J.  S.  BARNARD.  6e 

In  1879  ne  began  the  study  of  medicine  in  the  office  of  R. 
S.  Bishop,  M.D.,  Medina,  N.  Y. 

Subsequently  he  entered  Hahnemann  Medical  College, 
Philadelphia,  Pa.,  where  he  was  graduated  with  honors  in 
March,  1882.  In  the  same  year  he  began  the  practice  of 
medicine  in  Clyde,  N.  Y.,  and  in  1884  married  Miss 
Lillian  Hoyt,  of  that  place.  He  was  from  the  beginning 
very  successful,  and  in  the  six  years  of  his  residence  here 
built  up  an  extensive  village  and  country  practice.  But  a 
rural  environment  was  too  restricted  to  satisfy  the  aspira- 
tions of  a  man  of  Dr.  Barnard's  scientific  bent  and  acquis- 
itive mind.  In  his  practice  he  had  discovered  how  many 
things  were  yet  to  be  learned,  and,  abandoning  the  field 
which  he  so  successfully  cultivated  and  which  his  labors 
and  merits  had  made  a  lucrative  one,  he  applied  himself 
apart  to  study,  this  time  devoting  himself  to  a  specialty. 
He  then  in  1890  removed  to  Baltimore,  Md.,  and  was  ap- 
pointed to  the  Chair  of  Clinical,  Operative,  and  Orificial 
Surgery  in  the  Southern  Homoeopathic  Medical  College. 
He  held  this  position  until  August,  1894,  when  he  resigned 
it  to  accept  the  Chair  of  Gynaecology  and  Orificial  Sur- 
gery in  the  same  institution. 

Dr.  Barnard  is  a  practitioner  of  marked  success,  and  his 
chosen  field  is  surgery,  and  he  has  rapidly  gained  distinc- 
tion in  it  in  his  new  field  of  labor.  He  is  a  courageous 
and  brilliant  operator,  yet  at  the  same  time  scrupulous  and 
cautious.  He  does  not  suffer  himself  to  be  trammelled  by 
theories  or  the  traditions  of  schools,  but,  with  a  perfect 
acquaintance  with  the  views  and  methods  of  others,  trusts 
his  own  judgment  in  every  particular  case.  He  is  an  inde- 
fatigable student,  and  fills  the  brief  intervals  of  profes- 
sional engagements  with  reading  and  investigation.  In 
the  sick-room  his  genial  manner,  warm  sympathies,  and 
unwavering  confidence  inspire  the  patient  with  courage. 
These  qualities  sufficiently  explain  the  rapidity  of  his  rise 
vol.  11. — 5 


66  DR.  J.  H.  KELLOGG. 

to  popularity  in  his  new  field  and  the  affection  in  which 
old  and  new  clients  hold  him. 

Dr.  Barnard  is  a  member  of  the  following  professional 
organizations  :  Wayne  County  Homoeopathic  Medical  So- 
ciety, Western  New  York  Homceopathic  Medical  Society, 
New  York  State  Homoeopathic  Medical  Society,  American 
Institute  of  Homoeopathy,  Maryland  Homoeopathic  Med- 
ical Society,  American  Society  of  Orificial  Surgery,  South- 
ern Homoeopathic  Medical  Association,  and  President  of 
the  Maryland  and  District  of  Columbia  Clinical  Society. 

Dr.  Barnard  is  also  prominent  in  the  Masonic  Order 
and  is  now  a  member  of  the  following  Masonic  bodies : 
F.  and  A.  M.,  Clyde  Lodge,  No.  341  ;  Griswold  Chapter 
(Clyde),  No.  201  ;  Beausiant  Commandery,  No.  8,  Balti- 
more, Md.  ;  and  A.  O.  N.  M.  S.,  Damascus  Temple, 
Rochester,  N.  Y. 


J.    H.    KELLOGG,  M.D., 

BATTLE  CREEK,  MICH. 

Dr.  John  Harvey  Kellogg,  was  born  at  Tyrone, 
Livingston  County,  Mich.,  February  26,  1852.  His 
father's  name  was  John  Preston  Kellogg,  and  his  mother 
was  a  Miss  Ann  Jeannette  Stanley.  His  paternal  grand- 
father was  Josiah  Kellogg,  of  Northampton,  Mass.,  where 
his  father  resided  until  a  few  years  before  his  birth,  North- 
ampton having  been  the  family  seat  of  this,  one  of  the 
oldest  New  England  families,  for  nearly  two  hundred  and 
fifty  years.  He  attended  the  Michigan  State  Normal 
School  at  Ypsilanti,  Mich.  At  the  request  of  his  father 
he  left  school  before  graduation  to  commence  the  study  of 
medicine,  in  the  year  1872,  but  continued  the  study  of  the 
sciences  and  modern  languages  by  himself  and  with  the 
aid  of  able  teachers.  His  medical  preceptor  was  Dr. 
Daniel  Lewis,  New  York  City.     He  attended  the  Medical 


DR.  J.  H.  KELLOGG.  fiy 

Department  of  the  University  of  Michigan,  Ann  Arbor,  and 
later  Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College,  which  was  then 
at  the  height  of  its  prestige,  numbering  among  its  faculty 
those  eminent  teachers  Fordyce  Barker,  James  N.  Wood, 
E.  R.  Peaslee,  Albert  B.  Crosby,  Austin  Flint,  Sr.,  all  of 
whom  are  now  deceased.  After  graduation  he  took  extra 
courses  under  Prof.  Arnold,  of  New  York, "in  histology; 
Profs.  Austin  Flint,  Sr.,  and  E.  J.  Janeway,  in  physical 
diagnosis ;  under  Dr.  Noyes,  of  New  York,  in  the  eye  and 
ear;  under  Prof.  George  M.  Beard,  in  electrotherapy; 
and  under  other  specialists  in  microscopy  and  other 
branches.  He  was  graduated  at  Bellevue  Hospital  Med- 
ical College,  March,  1875. 

Dr.  Kellogg  commenced  the  practice  of  medicine  in 
Battle  Creek,  Mich.,  in  the  summer  of  1875,  and  has  re- 
mained in  practice  there  ever  since.  He  is  at  the  present 
time,  and  has  been  for  eighteen  years,  Superintendent  of 
the  Battle  Creek  Sanitarium ;  Surgeon  to  the  Battle  Creek 
Sanitarium  Hospital ;  Superintendent  of  the  Chicago  Med- 
ical Mission,  which  he  visits  weekly  ;  President  of  the 
Haskell  Orphans'  Home  and  of  the  James  White  Memorial 
Home  for  Aged  People.  The  Battle  Creek  Sanitarium  is 
an  incorporated  institution,  organized  as  a  self-supporting 
beneficent  enterprise  for  the  promotion  of  rational  med- 
icine and  the  relief  of  the  worthy  sick  poor. 

Dr.  Kellogg  has  always  been  greatly  interested  in  sani- 
tary and  philanthropic  enterprises.  He  has  twice  been 
appointed  member  of  the  State  Board  of  Health,  serving 
in  that  capacity  continuously  for  twelve  years.  He  has 
occupied  various  official  positions  in  surgery  and  med- 
icine. He  was  President  of  the  Regular  Medical  Society 
of  Calhoun  County  for  the  year  1887,  and  he  has  several 
times  represented  his  County  and  State  Societies  at  the 
meetings  of  the  American  Medical  Association. 

Dr.  Kellogg  is  a  member  of  the  following  medical  soci- 
eties :  Life  Fellow  of  the  British  Gynaecological  Society; 


68  DR.  J.  H.  KELLOGG. 

Corresponding  Member  of  La  Societed'Hygiene  ;  a  Foun- 
der and  Life  Member  of  the  International  Periodical  Gynae- 
cological Congress  ;  Permanent  Member  of  the  American 
Medical  Association ;  Member  of  the  Michigan  State 
Medical  Society,  Calhoun  County  Medical  Society,  and 
Battle  Creek  Academy  of  Medicine. 

Some  of  the  following  books  and  papers,  among  numer- 
ous others,  which  he  has  contributed  to  medical  journals 
and  other  publications,  and  which  have  been  quite  widely 
noticed  abroad  as  well  as  in  this  country,  are  worth  men- 
tioning, viz. : 

"  A  Series  of  School  Text-books  of  Physiology,"  written 
by  request  of  the  house  of  Harper  Bros. 

"A  Series  of  10  Colored  Wall-charts  Illustrative  of 
Anatomy,  Physiology,  and  Hygiene,  for  Use  in  Schools." 

"A  Series  of  21  Charts,  Comprising  118  Outline  Fig- 
ures of  the  Human  Body,  embodying  the  Results  of  Several 
Thousand  Observations,  Embracing  Studies  of  a  Number 
of  Different  Civilized  and  Uncivilized  Races,  including 
the  Principal  Types  of  the  Human  Family." 

'*  Graphic  Methods  of  Recording  Diseased  Conditions 
of  the  Lungs,  and  a  New  Form  of  Pneumograph,  or 
Pneograph. " 

"  Methods  of  Precision  in  the  Investigation  of  Disorders 
of  Digestion." 

"The  Influence  of  Dress  in  Producing  the  Physical 
Decadence  of  American  Women." 

"  The  Value  of  Exercise  as  a  Therapeutic  Means  in  the 
Treatment  of  Pelvic  Diseases  of  Women." 

"  Intestinal  Asepsis  and  Antisepsis  in  Abdominal  Sur- 
gery, with  a  Report  of  358  Cases,  with  8  Deaths,  including 
a  Series  of  165  Successive  Recoveries." 

"  Sixty  Cases  of  Uterine  Myomata  Treated  by  Electro- 
lysis, with  Description  of  New  Forms  of  Electrodes  and  a 
Coulombmeter. ' ' 

"  The  Use  of  Oxygen  by  Enemata,"  a  new  mode  of  in- 


DR.  J.  H.  KELLOGG.  fig 

troducing  this  important  therapeutic  agent  into  the  circu- 
lation. 

"  Report  of  73  Cases  of  Operation  for  Shortening  the 
Round  Ligaments,  and  Description  of  a  New  Method  of 
Operation." 

"  Antiseptic  Drainage  in  Abdominal  Surgery,  with 
Description  of  an  Aseptic  Drainage-tube." 

"A  Discussion  of  the  Electro-therapeutic  Methods  of 
Apostoli  and  Others,"  constituting  a  chapter  in  the  Inter- 
national System  of  Electro-therapeutics,  published  by  the 
F.  A.  Davis  Co. 

"A  Paper  Relating  to  a  New  Form  of  Electrical  Cur- 
rent— the  so-called  'Sinusoidal  Current,'"  which  was 
discovered  by  Dr.  Kellogg  in  the  summer  of  1883,  since 
rediscovered  and  described  by  D'Arsonval,  of  Paris. 

In  addition  he  is  editor  of  Modern  Medicine  and  Bac- 
teriological Review,  a  journal  devoted  to  rational  medicine, 
particularly  to  a  review  of  the  most  recent  results  of  bac- 
teriological research  and  developments  in  physiological 
chemistry.  Also  editor,  in  conjunction  with  Drs.  N.  S. 
Davis  and  T.  D.  Crothers,  of  the  American  Medical  Tem- 
perance Quarterly,  the  organ  of  the  American  Medical 
Temperance  Association.  Dr.  Kellogg  is  also  President 
of  the  American  Medical  Missionary  College,  Chicago, 
Illinois,  a  four-year  medical  school  second  to  no  medical 
college  in  the  United  States  in  grade,  and  devoted  wholly 
to  the  education  of  medical  missionaries. 

Dr.  Kellogg  is  a  remarkably  successful  operator.  In 
one  case  he  removed  successfully,  by  the  lumbar  method, 
a  diseased  kidney  so  large  as  to  require  the  amputation  of 
the  last  rib,  containing  a  calculus  which  weighed  4^ 
ounces.  He  devised  a  new  method  of  performing  the 
operation  of  shortening  the  round  ligaments  which  has 
proved  very  successful.  He  has  tested  the  operation  in 
over  five  hundred  cases  with  less  than  5  per  cent,  of 
failures. 


jq  DR.  J.  H.  KELLOGG. 

Dr.  Kellogg  is  recognized  by  his  associates  as  an  acute 
diagnostician,  and  as  a  surgeon  has  few  equals  in  rapidity 
and  neatness  of  his  operative  work.  His  record  of  165 
successive  oyariotomies  without  a  death  he  attributes  not 
solely  to  his  personal  operative  skill,  but  to  the  aseptic 
surroundings  of  the  hospital  in  which  he  operates  and  the 
scrupulous  attention  to  asepsis  on  the  part  of  operators 
and  nurses. 

For  twenty  years  Dr.  Kellogg  has  given  special  atten- 
tion to  a  study  of  the  causes  which  are  responsible  for  the 
growing  physical  weakness  of  American  women,  making 
extended  researches  in  the  interests  of  this  study  among 
the  wild  Indian  tribes  of  this  country,  as  well  as  among 
the  native  Chinese  women  and  the  native  women  of 
Mexico,  France,  Italy,  and  many  other  countries.  In 
1888  he  was  elected  a  Fellow  and  Founder  of  the  American 
Association  of  Obstetricians  and  Gynaecologists. 

He  has  travelled  extensively  in  the  United  States,  Cen- 
tral America,  and  Europe  for  the  purpose  of  making 
scientific  observations.  Twice  he  has  been  abroad,  in 
1883  and  1889.  In  1883  he  divided  his  time  between  the 
hospitals  and  medical  schools  of  London,  Paris,  and 
Vienna,  spending  a  considerable  portion  of  his  time  in  the 
private  surgical  laboratory  of  Billroth  (now  deceased), 
under  the  special  training  of  his  first  assistant,  Wolfler, 
giving  special  attention  to  intestinal  surgery  and  plastic 
surgery,  in  which  Prof.  Billroth  and  his  assistant  were  at 
that  time  leading  operators.  He  spent  several  months 
with  Lawson  Tait  as  a  pupil  assistant,  also  spent  some 
time  with  other  English  and  Continental  gynaecological 
surgeons.  He  also  observed  abdominal  surgery  with 
Savage,  of  Birmingham,  and  Thornton,  of  London.  He 
has  given  much  attention  to  abdominal  surgery.  If  he  is  a 
specialist  in  any  direction,  it  is  in  gynaecology  and  in  the 
treatment  of  disorders  of  digestion,  to  which  he  has  given 
more  special  attention  than  to  any  other  branch  of  med- 


DR.  J.   H.  KELLOGG.  yi 

icine,  having  made  a  careful  analytical  study  of  the  stomach 
fluid  in  more  than  six  thousand  cases,  and  perfected  a 
more  complete  and  exact  method  of  chemical  and  bac- 
terial investigation  of  the  stomach  than  has  heretofore 
been  employed. 

He  prepared,  by  request,  a  paper  entitled  "  The  Rela- 
tion of  Static  Disturbance  of  the  Abdominal  Viscera  to 
Displacements  of  the  Pelvic  Viscera,"  which  was  pre- 
sented before  the  Periodical  Gynaecological  Congress  held 
at  Brussels,  Belgium,  September,  1892,  and  published  in 
the  proceedings. 

He  has  made  an  extended  series  of  investigations  in 
anthropometry,  which  resulted  in  the  preparation  of  sev- 
eral anthropometric  tables,  based  upon  an  accurate  test  of 
the  strength  of  the  principal  groups  of  muscles  in  the  body 
in  nearly  a  thousand  men  and  an  equal  number  of  women. 
These  were  the  first  systematic  studies  ever  made  in  this 
line,  and  were  made  by  means  of  a  dynamometer  invented 
by  him  for  the  purpose. 

These  tables  and  dynamometer  are  in  use  in  the  physical 
culture  departments  of  Yale  University,  the  University  of 
Montreal,  Wisconsin  State  University,  and  numerous  other 
leading  educational  institutions,  and  are  also  used  in  the 
Government  Military  School  at  West  Point,  and  constitute 
the  only  basis  which  has  been  thus  far  found  for  accurate 
diagnosis  of  the  nervo-muscular  apparatus  of  an  individual, 
and  for  a  precise  prescription  of  exercise.  The  results  of 
these  investigations  were  presented,  by  request  of  the  Sec- 
retary, at  the  International  Statistical  Congress  held  in 
connection  with  the  World's  Fair  at  Chicago,  in  the  fall 
of  1893. 

He  has  invented  many  valuable  surgical  and  scientific 
instruments  and  appliances  which  are  being  extensively 
used.  Among  these  may  be  mentioned  a  sterilizing  fan 
for  use  in  surgical  operations,  this  instrument  being  so 
arranged  as  to  direct  a  large  volume  of  pure,  filtered  air 


n2  DR.  J.  H.  KELLOGG. 

upon  the  field  of  operation  ;  an  operating  water-bed,  for 
the  purpose  of  preventing  shock  from  chilling  of  the 
patient  during  long  operations;  special  instruments  for 
the  performance  of  the  operation  of  shortening  the  round 
ligaments  ;  a  specially  constructed  snare  for  use  in  connec- 
tion with  the  Paquelin  cautery,  for  removing  hemor- 
rhoids; an  instrument  for  measuring  the  time  occupied  by 
muscular  movement ;  and  another  for  determining  the 
length  of  time  required  for  perception  of  objects,  both 
instruments  being  used  in  psychological  research. 

Having  at  command  the  facilities  of  a  large  sanitarium, 
Dr.  Kellogg  has  invented  many  appliances  and  devices  for 
use  in  the  treatment  of  chronic  maladies,  among  the  most 
important  of  which  are  the  electric-light  bath,  and  various 
forms  of  apparatus  for  the  administration  of  active  and 
passive  exercise. 

His  researches  for  the  purpose  of  determining  the  best 
method  of  antisepsis  in  abdominal  surgery  resulted  in  the 
invention  of  an  aseptic  drainage-tube,  and  the  establish- 
ment of  a  special  dietary  in  the  management  of  cases  of 
this  class. 

The  Medical  and  Surgical  Sanitarium  during  the 
twenty  years  since  he  took  charge  of  it  has  grown  to  be 
the  largest  institution  of  the  kind  in  this  country.  Four 
thousand  persons  are  annually  received  into  the  institu- 
tion, which  includes  not  only  the  Sanitarium  proper,  but 
a  hospital  with  one  hundred  beds,  an  aseptic  mater- 
nity, and  fully  equipped  bacteriological,  biological,  and 
chemical  laboratories,  in  which  special  researches  are  in 
constant  progress.  The  hospital  record  for  recovery  after 
grave  operations  is  the  best  ever  attained,  which  Dr. 
Kellogg  attributes  not  alone  to  personal  skill,  but  in  a 
large  part  to  the  purity  of  the  country  air  with  which  the 
hospital  is  surrounded.  We  are  especially  glad  to  men- 
tion a  custom  which  prevails  in  this  hospital.  On  the 
regular  weekly  operating  days,  and  at  other  times  when 


DR.  J.  H.  KELLOGG.  y-> 

important  operations  are  on  hand,  the  physicians,  nurses, 
and  assistants,  before  beginning  their  work,  gather  in  a 
side  room  and  invoke  the  Divine  blessing  upon  their 
labors.  Without  asserting  that  such  a  course  secures 
Divine  interposition  in  the  saving  of  life,  it  cannot  be 
denied  that  such  a  custom  must  be  highly  conducive  to  a 
careful  consideration  of  the  work  in  hand  and  the  best 
interests  of  the  patient  to  be  operated  upon,  not  only  by 
physicians  but  by  assistants  and  nurses,  being  conducive 
to  that  gravity  of  mind  which  is  alone  consistent  with 
the  grave  responsibilities  of  surgical  work.  It  seems  a 
very  fitting  thing  that  the  worthy  example  of  that  great 
man,  Ephraim  McDowell,  the  first  ovariotomist,  should 
be  followed  by  his  successors. 

The  institution  of  which  Dr.  Kellogg  has  immediate 
charge  comprises  some  twenty-five  buildings,  the  principal 
and  nearly  all  of  which  were  erected  under  his  direction  and 
from  plans  furnished  by  him.  He  has  endeavored  to  make  it 
a  model  scientific  establishment,  where  the  sick  can  receive 
the  benefit  of  every  known  rational  means  for  recovery. 
Neither  Dr.  Kellogg  nor  any  other  person  has  any  per- 
sonal interest  in  the  institution,  and  he  has  never  received 
any  income  from  it  for  his  professional  services  either 
directly  or  indirectly,  aside  from  a  moderate  salary,  de- 
pending almost  wholly  upon  other  resources  for  his  support 
and  the  carrying  on  of  other  beneficent  enterprises  in  which 
he  is  interested,  among  which  may  be  mentioned  several 
branch  sanitariums  in  the  United  States,  a  medical  mis- 
sion and  sanitarium  at  Guadalajara,  Old  Mexico,  and 
several  medical  missions  in  foreign  lands,  all  of  which  are 
under  his  supervision,  together  with  a  training  school  for 
missionary  nurses,  at  which  upward  of  two  hundred  and 
fifty  persons  are  constantly  under  instruction,  a  large 
number  being  sent  annually  to  various  mission  fields  at 
home  and  in  foreign  lands. 

He  married  Miss  Ella  E.  Eaton,  of  Alfred  Centre,  N.  Y., 


pr4  DR.  MARIE  J.  MERGLER. 

February  22,  1879.  They  have  no  children  of  their  own, 
but  have  picked  up  a  dozen  or  more  little  waifs  at  various 
times  and  at  various  places,  whom  they  are  rearing  and 
educating. 

May  God  spare  and  bless  him  to  continue  in  his  noble 
work. 


MARIE   J.  MERGLER,  M.D., 

CHICAGO,    ILL. 

Marie  J.  Mergler,  M.D.,  was  born  in  Mainstockheim, 
Bavaria.  She  was  the  youngest  of  three  children.  Her 
father,  Dr.  Francis  R.  Mergler,  was  a  graduate  of  the 
University  of  Wurzburg.  Her  mother  was  descended 
from  a  German  family — the  Von  Rittershausen.  When 
about  one  year  old,  her  parents  removed  to  America 
and  located  in  Wheeling,  111.,  where  her  father  practised 
his  profession.  Some  time  afterward  they  removed  to 
Palatine,  111.,  where  he  continued  his  practice  until  his 
death.  Owing  to  the  limited  advantages  afforded  by  the 
district  school,  Dr.  Francis  R.  Mergler  personally  directed 
the  early  education  of  his  children,  and  when  the  in- 
creasing demands  for  his  professional  services  rendered 
this  no  longer  possible,  the  instruction  was  continued  by 
private  teachers.  At  seventeen  Marie  Mergler  was  grad- 
uated from  the  Cook  County  Normal  School,  and  one 
year  later  entered  the  State  Normal  School  at  Oswego, 
N.  Y.,  where  she  was  graduated  from  the  classical  course 
in  1 87 1.  She  was  then  appointed  first  assistant  in  the 
High  School  at  Euglewood,  which  position  she  held  for 
four  years.  Finding,  however,  that  the  profession  of 
teaching  was  too  narrow  a  field  and  offered  no  incentive  to 
the  further  prosecution  of  studies,  she  decided  to  adopt 
that  of  medicine,  since  she  had  acquired  a  love  for  it 
from  her  close  association  with  her  father,  whom  she  had 
occasionally  assisted  in  his  practice.     She  matriculated  at 


OAaJ^ 


DR.  MARIE  J.  MERGLER.  75 

the  Woman's  Medical  College  of  Chicago  in  1S76.  Dur- 
ing her  course  she  attracted  the  attention  of  her  professors 
on  account  of  her  scholarship,  and  she  is  indebted  to  the 
late  Dr.  William  H.  Byford,  founder  of  the  school,  for 
much  of  her  knowledge  of  surgery,  as  she  assisted  him  at 
his  operations  for  several  years.  She  was  graduated  from 
the  College  in  1879,  being  valedictorian  of  her  class,  and 
was  immediately  elected  Lecturer  on  Materia  Medica,  but 
was  given  one  year's  leave  of  absence  for  study.  Dr. 
Mergler  was  the  first  woman  graduate  to  compete  success- 
fully with  the  graduates  of  other  Chicago  medical  colleges 
for  the  appointment  as  interne  of  the  Cook  County  Hos- 
pital at  Dunning,  standing  second  in  the  competitive  ex- 
amination. She  received  the  appointment  and  was  as- 
signed a  position  which,  however,  she  was  not  allowed  to 
fill.  The  place  was  given  to  a  young  man  who  was  not 
even  required  to  take  the  examination.  Determined  not 
to  be  thwarted  in  having  hospital  experience,  she  went  to 
Europe  and  studied  one  year  at  Zurich,  giving  special  at- 
tention to  pathology  and  clinical  medicine. 

She  began  practice  in  Chicago  in  1881,  doing  general 
practice  at  first  and  then  limiting  herself  to  obstetrics  and 
gynaecology.  In  the  latter  she  has  acquired  great  skill  as 
a  surgeon,  and  in  this  field  stands  among  those  at  the  head 
of  her  profession  in  the  Northwest. 

In  the  Woman's  Medical  College  she  has  held  the  posi- 
tions of  Lecturer  on  Materia  Medica,  Lecturer  on  Histol- 
ogy, of  Materia  Medica  and  Therapeutics,  Clinical  In- 
structor in  Gynaecology,  and  Adjunct  Professor  of  Gynae- 
cology. 

After  the  death  of  Professor  William  H.  Byford  she 
was  appointed  his  successor  as  Professor  of  Gynaecology. 
Since  1885  she  has  held  the  office  of  Secretary  of  this  in- 
stitution. During  her  term  of  office  she  has  proved  her- 
self to  be  possessed  of  great  executive  ability  and  has 
labored  untiringly  to  advance  the  school. 


76  DR.  MARIE  J.    MERGLER. 

In  connection  with  the  late  Dr.  Charles  Warrington 
Earle,  she  has  succeeded  in  maintaining  the  high  standard 
and  broad  lines  of  the  institution  so  well  begun  by  Dr. 
Byford  and  his  colleagues,  and  has  greatly  widened  its  op- 
portunities for  usefulness  by  aiding  in  its  union  with  a 
wealthy  university. 

At  the  Lincoln  Street  Dispensary  she  has  built  up  a  fine 
gynaecological  clinic  in  which  the  work  is  conducted  by 
herself  and  able  assistants. 

In  1882  she  was  one  of  the  first  two  women  elected  on 
the  attending  staff  of  the  Cook  County  Hospital. 

In  1886  she  was  appointed  one  of  the  attending  sur- 
geons at  the  Woman's  Hospital  of  Chicago,  and  in  1890 
gynaecologist  to  Wesley  Hospital,  both  of  which  positions 
she  still  fills. 

In  November,  1895,  she  was  elected  Head  Physician  and 
Surgeon  at  the  Mary  Thompson  Hospital  for  Women  and 
Children.  In  this  last  appointment,  Dr.  Mergler  received 
the  unanimous  support  of  the  Chicago  Gynaecological  So- 
ciety, and  also  of  the  majority  of  the  members  of  the  med- 
ical profession  in  the  city,  a  just  tribute  to  her  skill. 

Dr.  Mergler  has  distinguished  herself  for  her  ability  in  ab- 
dominal surgery.  Her  work  is  done  cleanly  and  quickly. 
She  has  excellent  judgment  and  superior  diagnostic  pow- 
ers. Her  success  in  the  class-room  has  equalled  that  in 
the  consulting- room.  Her  lectures  are  scientific  and  are 
rendered  more  valuable  by  her  rare  ability  to  classify  her 
knowledge  and  her  clear-cut  mode  of  expressing  herself. 
In  the  midst  of  her  busy  life  she  has  contributed  papers 
to  some  of  the  State  Medical  Societies  and  leading  med- 
ical journals,  and  is  the  author  of  a  "  Guide  to  the  Study 
of  Gynaecology,"  a  text-book  used  in  the  School.  But 
her  great  work  has  been  in  assisting  women  to  obtain  the 
very  best  opportunities  for  a  thorough  medical  education 
in  the  Woman's  Medical  College  at  Chicago. 

In  the  words  of  another  of  Chicago's  leading  physicians, 
"  She  is  a  great  and  good  woman." 


p-> 

w '  - 

DR.  CHARLES  B.  PENROSE. 


DR.  CHARLES  B.  PENROSE.  yj 

CHARLES  B.  PENROSE,  M.D., 

PHILADELPHIA,   PA. 

Charles  B.  Penrose,  M.D.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
was  born  in  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  on  the  first  day  of  Febru- 
ary in  the  year  1862.  His  father  is  Dr.  R.  A.  F.  Penrose, 
for  many  years  Professor  of  Obstetrics  and  Diseases  of 
Women  and  Children  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania. 

After  obtaining  an  elementary  education  he  was  sent  to 
Harvard  College,  and  in  1881  he  received  the  degree  of 
A.B.  from  that  institution.  In  the  year  1884  he  was 
graduated  from  the  Medical  School  of  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania. 

While  studying  medicine  he  took  a  post-graduate  course 
at  Harvard  in  physics,  mathematics,  and  chemistry,  re- 
ceiving the  degrees  from  Harvard  of  A.M.  and  Ph.D.  in 
1884. 

Dr.  Penrose  was  Resident  Physician  in  the  Pennsylvania 
Hospital  for  sixteen  months  ending  October  1,  1886. 

In  1887  he  was  appointed  Out-patient  Surgeon  to  the 
Pennsylvania  Hospital.  In  1888  he  was  appointed  Sur- 
geon to  the  Gynaecean  Hospital  of  Philadelphia,  and  it 
was  through  his  energy  and  efforts  that  the  hospital  was 
founded.  Dr.  Penrose  is  an  earnest  worker  in  every 
branch  of  his  profession. 

In  1890,  by  appointment,  he  held  the  position  as  Sur- 
geon to  the  German  Hospital. 

Surgery  has  always  been  his  favorite  pursuit,  notwith- 
standing he  has  had  a  very  extensive  general  practice,  and 
he  has  been  remarkably  successful  in  his  surgical  opera- 
tions, so  much  so  that  in  1893  he  was  elected  Professor 
of  Gynaecology  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  which 
position  he  still  holds. 

He  is  a  fluent  writer,  and  has  published  numerous  val- 


78 


DR.  B.  BERNARD  BROWNE. 


uable  papers  relating  to  mathematics,  physics,  and  medi- 
cine. 

He  is  a  member  of  the  College  of  Physicians  of  Phi'a- 
delphia,  the  Philadelphia  Academy  of  Surgery,  Philadel- 
phia County  Medical  Society,  and  others. 

Dr.  Penrose  is  in  the  vigor  of  youth  and  health,  and 
the  field  is  broad  before  him  for  usefulness  and  good 
which  will  afford  him  a  fine  opportunity  to  bring  to  bear 
his  surgical  skill.  He  has  already  attained  a  prominence 
in  his  profession  which  places  him  far  along  in  the  ranks 
of  much  older  surgeons. 


B.  BERNARD  BROWNE,  M.D., 

BALTIMORE,  MARYLAND. 

Dr.  Bennet  Bernard  Browne  was  born  June  16,  1842, 
at  Wheatlands  (the  old  family  residence)  in  Queen  Anne's 
County,  Maryland. 

His  parents  were  Charles  Cochrane  Browne,  a  great- 
grandson  of  Charles  Browne  and  Priscilla  Brooke  (she 
being  the  sister  of  Roger  Brooke,  the  grandfather  of  Chief 
Justice  Roger  Brooke  Taney),  and  Mary  Elizabeth  Will- 
son,  the  daughter  of  Dr.  Thomas  Willson,  of  Trumpington, 
Kent  County,  Maryland,  and  granddaughter  of  Hon. 
Thomas  Smyth,  a  member  of  the  Maryland  Council  of 
Safety  during  the  Revolutionary  War. 

While  he  was  quite  young,  Dr.  Browne's  parents  re- 
moved to  Howard  County,  which  continued  to  be  his 
residence  until  1861.  He  received  his  collegiate  educa- 
tion at  Loyola  College,  Baltimore.  In  May,  1861,  he 
entered  the  Confederate  army  with  a  company  of  cavalry 
organized  in  Howard  County,  Maryland,  under  Captain 
George  R.  Gaither,  and  joined  General  Angus  Mac- 
Donald's  command  at  Winchester,  Virginia.    Upon  the  re- 


■I 


r        S6^\r     dL&SL^2^  a-^d^&^ls^s^J^ 


DR.   B.  BERNARD  BROWNE. 


79 


♦  organization  of  the  cavalry  service  he  was  attached  to  the 
Seventh  Regiment  of  Virginia  Cavalry  in  the  "  Laurel  " 
brigade,  successively  commanded  by  Generals  Ashby, 
Jones,  and  Rosser,  doing  service  principally  in  the  Valley 
of  Virginia  under  "  Stonewall  "  Jackson  ;  at  Gettysburg 
and  Spottsylvania  the  brigade  was  attached  to  General  J. 
E.  B.  Stuart's  command.  On.  May  5,  1864,  in  the  great 
cavalry  charge  at  the  battle  of  the  Wilderness,  where  Rosser 
led  his  brigade  in  a  sabre  charge,  Dr.  Browne  was  wounded 
in  the  arm,  while  his  brother  Robert,  who  was  riding 
beside  him,  and  who  was  always  considered  one  of  the 
bravest  and  most  fearless  young  men  in  the  regiment,  was 
shot  through  the  heart  and  fell  dead  from  his  horse. 

Dr.  Browne  was  taken  prisoner  in  the  latter  part  of 
May,  1864,  and  confined  in  the  Old  Capitol  Prison  at 
Washington  until  February,  1865,  when  he  was  sent  to 
Richmond  for  exchange.  After  the  surrender  of  Lee's 
army  at  Appomattox  he  returned  to  Baltimore,  and,  in 
August,  1865,  commenced,  the  study  of  medicine  and  sur- 
gery under  the  instruction  of  the  late  Professor  Nathan  R. 
Smith,  M.D.,  LL.D.  (who  was  a  son  of  Dr.  Nathan  Smith, 
Professor  of  Surgery  in  Yale  College,  New  Haven,  to  whom 
belongs  the  honor  of  being  the  next  ovariotomist  (July  5, 
182 1)  after  Ephraim  McDowell.  His  operation  was  also  as 
truly  original  as  the  first  of  Dr.  McDowell;  Dr.  Smith 
being  at  the  time  entirely  unaware  that  Dr.  McDowell  had 
operated  at  all). 

Hs  took  his  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine  from  the 
University  of  Maryland  in  1867,  and  then  spent  some 
time  at  Bayview  Asylum,  devoting  his  attention  chiefly  to 
the  study  of  the  surgical  diseases  of  women  and  obstetrics. 
Beginning  in  1868  in  the  general  practice  of  medicine  and 
surgery,  he  soon  became  prominent  for  his  success  in  the 
obstetrical  and  gynaecological  portion  of  his  work,  and 
after  a  few  years  began  to  devote  his  attention  especially 
to  these  branches.     At  the  Baltimore  Special  Dispensary 


go  DR.  B.   BERNARD  BROWNE. 

he  had  for  many  years  the  largest  gynaecological  clinic  in 
the  city. 

Dr.  Browne  has  contributed  a  large  number  of  papers  to 
the  medical  journals  of  the  country,  some  of  which  have 
been  translated  and  republished  in  foreign  journals ;  among 
the  most  important  are  : 

"  Case  of  Fibroid  Tumor  of  the  Uterus  Causing  Eclamp- 
sia," 1877. 

"On  Partial  Retention  of  Placenta  after  Labor,"  1879. 

"  Uterine  Thermometry,"  1880. 

"Dilatation  of  Female  Urethra  for  Examination  of  the 
Ureters,"  1880. 

"  Combined  Intra-uterine  and  Extra-uterine  Twin  Preg- 
nancy, with  an  Analysis  of  Twenty-four  Cases,"  1882. 

"The  Surgeons  of  Baltimore  and  their  Achievements, 
Sesqui-Centennial  Address,"  1880. 

In  1883  he  devised  a  new  operation  for  chronic  inver- 
sion of  the  uterus  {New  York  Medical  Journal,  Nov.  24, 
1883),  which  has  been  accepted  by  many  of  the  prominent 
works  on  gynaecology,  both  in  this  country  and  abroad. 

He  was  one  of  the  earliest  ovariotomists  in  his  section 
of  the  United  States  to  recognize  and  remove  diseased 
tubes  and  ovaries. 

Dr.  Browne  has  always  taken  an  active  interest  in  the 
medical  societies  of  his  State,  being  a  member  of  the 
Medical  and  Chirurgical  Faculty  of  Maryland ;  of  the 
Clinical  Society  of  Maryland,  of  which  he  was  President 
in  1884-85 ;  of  the  Gynaecological  and  Obstetrical  Society 
of  Baltimore,  of  which  he  was  the  President  in  1892-93; 
he  is  also  a  Fellow  of  the  American  Gynaecological  Society. 

Dr.  Browne  was  one  of  the  incorporators  of  the  Woman's 
Medical  College  of  Baltimore,  and  has  been  Professor  of 
Gynaecology  in  it  since  1881.  He  was  also  Professor  of 
Obstetrics  and  Gynaecology  in  the  Baltimore  Polyclinic 
and  Post-Graduate  Medical  S;hool,  and  is  Gynaecologist 
to  the  Hospital  of  the  Good  Samaritan,  and  has  a  large 


DR.  B.  BERNARD  BROWNE.  gl 

consulting   practice   principally   from    the   physicians    of 
Maryland,  Virginia,  and  Pennsylvania. 

Dr.  Browne  is  a  member  of  the  Society  of  the  Army 
and  Navy  of  the  Confederate  States  in  the  State  of  Mary- 
land. 

He  is  an  active  member  of  the  Maryland  Historical 
Society,  taking  particular  interest  in  the  early  Colonial 
history  of  his  State,  and  in  the  genealogy  of  Maryland  and 
Virginia  families  and  their  ancestors  in  Eng^nd. 

He  is  a  member  of  the  Society  of  Sons  of  the  Revolu- 
tion in  the  State  of  Maryland,  being  a  great-grandson  of 
Thomas  Smyth  (1729-18 19)  ;  Member  of  Maryland  Con- 
vention (1775-76)  ;  Signer  Association  of  the  Freemen  of 
Maryland,  July  26,  1775;  Member  of  Maryland  Council 
of  Safety,  1775-75;  Member  of  Committee  of  Safety  of 
Kent  County,  Maryland,  1776. 

He  is  also  a  member  of  the  Society  of  the  Colonial  Wars 
in  the  S  ate  of  Maryland,  and  Chairman  of  the  Gentlemen 
of  the  Council  in  that  Society.  On  November  22,  1893, 
he  delivered  a  scholarly  address  before  that  Society,  com- 
memorative of  the  two  hundred  and  sixtieth  anniversary 
of  the  sailing  of  the  first  Maryland  Colony  in  the  "Ark" 
and  "  Dove"  from  Cowes,  in  the  Isle  of  Wight. 

The  Society  of  Colonial  Wars  has  been  instituted  to 
perpetuate  the  memory  of  the  events  in  colonial  history 
happening  from  the  settlement  of  Jamestown,  Virginia, 
May  13,  1607,  to  the  battle  of  Lexington,  April  19,  1775, 
and  of  the  men  who,  in  military,  naval,  and  civil  positions 
of  high  trust  and  responsibility,  by  their  acts  or  counsel 
assisted  in  the  establishment,  defence,  and  preservation  of 
the  American  Colonies,  and  were,  in  truth,  the  founders 
of  this  nation.  With  this  end  in  view  it  seeks  to  collect 
and  preserve  manuscripts,  rolls,  and  records  ;  to  provide 
suitable  commemoration  of  memorials  relating  to  the 
American  Colonial  period,  and  to  inspire  in  its  members 
the  paternal  and  patriotic  spirit  of  their  forefathers,  and 

VOL.  II. — 6. 


g2  DR.  B.  BERNARD  BROWNE. 

in  the  community  respect  and  reverence  to  those  whose 
public  services  made  our  freedom  and  unity  possible. 

The  ancestors  of  Dr.  Browne  under  whom  he  holds  mem- 
bership in  this  Society  and  their  services  are  as  follows : 

Eighth  in  descent  from  Major-General  Richard  Bennet, 
died  1677,  member  of  Virginia  House  of  Burgesses,  1629; 
member  of  the  King's  Council  seven  term^,  1642-1660; 
one  of  the  Commissioners  appointed  in  165 1  by  the  Council 
of  State  in  England  to  reduce  all  the  Plantations  within 
the  Bay  of  the  Chesapeake  to  their  due  obedience  to  the 
Parliament  of  the  Commonwealth  of  England.  Reduced 
Virginia  March  12,  1652;  reduced  Maryland  March  27, 
1652;  made  the  treaty  with  the  Susquehanna  Indians  July 
5,  1652,  by  which  the  Indians  gave  up  a  large  portion  of 
Maryland.  Governor  of  Virginia  from  April  30,  1652-55. 
Elected  Commissioner  to  England,  1655.  Signed  the 
agreement  with  Lord  Baltimore,  November  30,  1657,  by 
which  the  Province  of  Maryland  was  restored.  Major- 
General  of  the  Virginia  forces,  1662-72. 

Seventh  in  descent  from  Richard  Bennet,  Jr.,  died  1667; 
Member  Maryland  Assembly,  1' 63-65. 

Seventh  in  descent  from  Robert  Brooke,  B.A.  (1620), 
M.A.  (1624)  Wadham  College,  Oxford;  commissioned  by 
Cecelius  Lord  Baltimore,  1649,  as  commander  of  one  whole 
county  and  member  of  his  Lordship's  Provincial  Council; 
Commander  of  Charles  County,  1650;  President  of  the 
Provincial  Council  and  Acting  Governor  of  Maryland, 
1652. 

Seventh  in  descent  from  Captain  James  Neale,  member 
Provincial  Council  of  Maryland,  1643-44  and  1660-61. 
Commissioned  "Captain"  by  Lord  Baltimore  1661;  Mem- 
ber Maryland  House  of  Burgesses  1666. 

Seventh  in  descent  from  Colonel  Henry  Morgan,  Com- 
mander of  militia,  Kent  County,  1648;  Member  of  Mary- 
land Assembly,  1659. 

Seventh  in  descent  from  Richard  Smith,  Attorney-Gen- 


DR.  B.  BERNARD  BROWXE.  83 

eral  of  Maryland,  1655  to  i65o;  Lieutenant  of  militia, 
1657-60;  Member  of  Maryland  Assembly,  1660-67. 

Sixth  in  descent  from  Francis  Hutchins,  Member  of 
Maryland  Assembly,  1682-94  (ancestor  of  Johns  Hopkins). 

Sixth  in  descent  from  Anthony  Neale,  Lieutenant  in 
Captain  Rand  Brandt's  Company  of  Militia,  Charles 
County,  16S6. 

Sixth  in  descent  from  Lieutenant-Colonel  Henry  Lowe, 
Judge  of  Provincial  Court  1697,  commander  of  the  militia 
of  St.  Mary's  County  in  1698,  nephew  of  Lady  Jane 
Baltimore,  the  wife  of  Charles  III.,  Lord  Baltimore. 

Fifth  in  descent  from  Colonel  Thomas  Smyth,  Member 
of  Maryland  Assembly  nine  terms,  1694-1707.  Member 
of  Provincial  Council,  1 715-19. 

Fourth  in  descent  from  Thomas  Smyth,  Member  of 
Maryland  Assembly  1738. 

Third  in  descent  from  Honorable  Thomas  Smyth,  Mem- 
ber of  Maryland  Convention  1774. 

Major  General  Richard  Bennet  was  a  son  of  Sir  John 
Bennet  and  brother  of  Henry  Bennet,  Earl  of  Arlington, 
Chief  Secretary  of  State  to  Charles  II.  of  England ;  among 
his  descendants  in  Virginia  were  John  Randolph  of  Roan- 
oke; Richard  Bland,  member  of  the  First  Congress  at 
Philadelphia;  Theodorick  Bland,  Colonel  in  the  Revolu- 
tionary Army;  Henry  St.  George  Tucker,  President  of 
Virginia  Court  of  Appeals ;  John  Randolph  Tucker,  At- 
torney-General of  Virginia;  Lighthorse  Harry  Lee,  of  the 
Revolutionary  Army ;  Major-General  Fitzhugh  Lee  and 
General  Robert  E.  Lee,  of  the  Confederate  States  Army. 

Of  the  latter,  a  recent  historical  writer  has  said  :  "  When 
from  his  chosen  place,  with  kindling  eye  he  saw  his  ragged 
boys  in  gray,  in  a  hundred  battles,  sweep  the  Federal  lines 
from  the  field,  it  was  the  blood  of  Richard  Bennet  that 
thrilled  in  the  veins  of  Robert  E.  Lee.  His  was  the  hand 
that  first  sowed  the  seeds  of  both  civil  and  religious  liberty 
in  the  soil  of  Virginia.     He  quickened  into  life  the  spirit 


84 


DR.  B.  BERNARD  BROJVXE. 


of  independence,  which  a  century  afterward  fired  the  soul 
of  Patrick  Henry  and  drew  forth  the  sword  of  Washington. 
Richard  Bennet  was  the  first  and  one  of  the  greatest  of 
all  the  friends  of  liberty  Virginia  ever  nurtured  on  her 
bosom,  and  who,  preceding  them  all  by  a  century,  made 
possible  their  heroic  achievements." 

Robert  Brooke,  B.A.  and  M.A.  Oxford,  was  the  ancestor 
of  Roger  Brooke  Taney,  Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States; 
of  Governor  Thomas  Sim  Lee,  and  ot  Charles  Carroll  of 
Carrollton,  signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 
He  was  the  son  of  Thomas  Brooke,  Member  of  Parliament, 
1604-n,  and  Susan  Foster,  daughter  of  Sir  Thomas  Foster, 
Knight,  Counsel  to  Queen  Anne  of  Denmark  and  Prince 
Henry,  appointed  Judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas, 
November  24,  1607;  and  Susan  Foster,  his  wife,  was  de- 
scended from  the  Fosters,  of  Etherstone  Hall,  Northum- 
berland, England,  of  whom,  so  ancient  was  the  family, 
the  Northumberland  adage  says  :  "  First  Adam  and  Eve 
were  made,  then  the  Fosters." 

In  tracing  out  the  genealogy  of  Sir  Thomas  Foster, 
Knight,  we  find  that  through  Elizabeth  d'Umfraville  and 
Robert  d'Umfraville,  Earl  of  Angus,  wrho  was  the  grand- 
son of  Alexander  Comyn,  Earl  of  Buchan,  and  Elizabeth, 
daughter  of  R:>ger  de  Quinci,  second  Earl  of  Winchester 
(son  of  Saher  de  Quinci,  first  Earl  of  Winchester,  who  was 
one  of  the  Barons  who  signed  the  Magna  Charta,  June  15, 
1215),  who  married  Helen,  the  grand-daughter  of  David, 
Earl  of  Huntington,  that  he  was  a  lineal  descendant  of 
David  I.,  King  of  Scotland,  who  was  the  brother  of 
Matilda,  who  married  Henry  I.,  King  of  England,  Sir 
Thomas  Foster  being  seventeenth  in  descent,  Robert 
Brooke  nineteenth,  and  Dr.  Browne  twenty-sixth  in  de- 
scent from  Malcolm,  King  of  Scotland,  who  married  Mar- 
garet, the  daughter  of  Eadmund  Ironsides.  We  also  find 
that  Queen  Victoria  is  twenty-fifth  and  the  Prince  of  Wales 
twenth  sixth  in  descent  from  Malcolm  and  Margaret. 


DR.  B.    BERNARD  BROWNE. 


85 


An  interesting  event  in  regard  to  this  King  Malcolm 
is  that  he  was  the  great-grandson  of  King  Malcolm  II., 
commonly  called  Rex  Victoriosissimus,  who,  when  re- 
turning from  the  defeat  of  the  Danes  at  Mortlock,  in 
Moray,  in  10 10,  was  pursued  by  a  ravenous  wolf,  which 
was  about  to  attack  him,  when  a  young  son  of  Donald'  of 
the  Isles  thrust  his  arm,  which  was  wound  in  the  plaid,  into 
the  wolf's  mouth,  and  with  his  dagger  slew  the  beast.  The 
King  appreciating  the  boldness  of  the  action  gave  to  the 
young  man  certain  lands  which  now  form  the  parish  of 
Skene,  in  Aberdeenshire.  This  incident  gave  rise  to  the 
family  name  Sgian  or  Skene,  which  means  dagger  or  dirk. 
This  Skene  was  the  ancestor  of  one  of  our  most  distin- 
guished ovariotomists  in  America,  Dr.  Alexander  J.  C. 
Skene,  of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  and  now,  after  a  lapse  of  884 
years  and  twenty-nine  generations,  we  find  Dr.  Browne, 
the  descendant  of  King  Malcolm,  whose  life  was  thus  saved, 
and  Dr.  Skene,  whose  family  thus  took  their  name,  both 
eminent  in  the  same  professional  career  and  members  of 
the  same  national  society. 

Robert  Brooke  married  Mary  Mainwaring,  daughter  of 
Roger  Mainwaring,  B.A.,  All  Souls  College,  Oxford,  Feb- 
ruary, 1608 ;  M.A.,  July  5,  1611;  and  D.D.,  July  2,  1625; 
Chaplain  to  Charles  I.,  1630;  Dean  of  Worcester,  1633; 
Bishop  of  St.  David's,  1636.  Roger  Mainwaring  was  a 
descendant  of  a  noble  and  one  of  the  most  ancient  Cheshire 
families,  allied  by  marriage  to  Hugh  Kevilioc,  Earl  of 
Chester,  a  near  relative  of  William  the  Conqueror. 

The  family  of  Mainwaring  was  founded  by  Ranulphus, 
who  accompanied  William  the  Conqueror  from  Normandy 
and  received  the  grant  of  fifteen  lordships  in  Cheshire, 
including  Peure  (now  Over-Peover)  as  his  division  of  the 
spoil. 

In  examining  the  genealogical  chart  of  the  Browne, 
Brooke,  Neale,  and  Bennet  families,  we  find  that  Dr. 
Browne's  ancestors  are  traced  back  to  the  time  of  the  Nor- 


86  DR.  B.  BERXARD  BROWNE. 

man  invasion  of  England  in  1066,  and  that  many  of  them 
were  present  and  fought  with  William  the  Conqueror  in 
the  great  battle  of  Senlac,  near  Hastings.  Among  the 
most  prominent  of  these  were  William  de  Warren,  Earl  of 
Surrey,  who  married  Gundrada,  the  daughter  of  the  Con- 
queror ;  William  Fitz  Osbern,  Earl  of  Hereford;  Roger  de 
Montgomery  Earl  of  Arundel  and  Shrewsbury ;  Robert  de 
Beaumont,  C  ount  of  Meulent  and  Earl  of  Leicester ;  Raoul 
de  Toeni,  who  held  the  honorable  office  of  gonfalonier 
(standard-bearer)  of  Normandy,  which  was  hereditary  in 
his  family;  Raoul  de  Gael,  Earl  of  Norfolk;  Richard  le 
Goz,  Vicomte  D'Avranches,  who  married  Emma  de  Con- 
teville,  a  half-sister  of  the  Conqueror,  whose  descendants 
afterward  became  the  Earls  of  Chester. 

Dr.  Browne  received  his  first  name  from  the  Bennet 
family,  his  second  also  from  two  remote  ancestors,  viz., 
Bernard,  King  of  Italy  Si 2  to  81S,  a  grandson  of  Charle- 
magne, and  Bernard  the  Dane,  a  descendant  of  the  kings 
of  Denmark  and  a  companion  of  the  first  Norman  Con- 
queror, Duke  Rollo;  he  was  Governor  and  Regent  of 
Normandy,  A.D.  S12;  from  him  were  descended  the 
Comtes  de  Meulent,  the  Earls  of  Leicester  and  Warwick, 
and  many  other  French  and  English  noble  houses. 

Dr.  Browne  married,  in  1872,  Miss  Jennie  Nicholson,  of 
Baltimore,  a  sister  of  Bishop  Isaac  L.  Nicholson,  of  Mil- 
waukee, Wisconsin.  They  have  five  children,  two  sons 
and  three  daughters,  his  eldest  daughter  received  this  year 
(1894)  the  first  scholarship  awarded  by  the  Bryn  Mawr 
School,  which  consists  of  a  four-year  course  at  the  Bryn 
Mawr  College,  Pennsylvania. 


J?.&~~ 


DR.  P.  FLEWELLEN  CHAMBERS.  87 

P.  FLEWELLEN  CHAMBERS,  M.D., 

NEW    YORK,    N.    Y. 

Dr.  Porter  Flewellen  Chambers  is  descended  from 
an  old  Scotch  family,  remotely  related  to  the  great  pub- 
lishers of  that  name. 

Early  in  the  eighteenth  century  Robert  Chambers  came 
to  America  from  Scotland,  and  settled  in  North  Carolina. 
He  took  an  active  part  in  the  Revolutionary  War,  and  in 
the  War  of  1812  he  again  served  his  adopted  country.  In 
1800  his  son  Henry  removed  to  Georgia,  and  there  his 
grandson,  Col.  James  McCoy  Chambers,  the  grandfather 
of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  born. 

James  McCoy  Chambers  was  a  man  of  note  in  his  State, 
actively  associated  with  its  agricultural  and  manufacturing 
interests,  and  amassed  a  large  fortune.  He  was  editor  of 
The  Soil  of  the  South,  the  leading  agricultural  journal  of 
that  section,  published  at  Columbus,  and  actively  and 
earnestly  encouraged  the  development  of  the  manufactur- 
ing interests  of  that  place,  now  grown  to  be  the  most  ex- 
tensive and  valuable  in  the  entire  South.  Col.  Chambers 
died  in  1869. 

Judge  William  H.  Chambers,  father  of  Dr.  P.  Flewellen 
Chambers,  took  a  prominent  part  in  the  late  Civil  War, 
rising  to  the  rank  of  Colonel  in  the  field ;  he  was  also 
active  in  the  executive  part  of  the  Confederate  Government. 
He  married  Anne  Lane  Flewellen,  daughter  of  a  prominent 
physician  of  Welsh  extraction,  resident  in  Georgia. 

Dr.  P.  Flewellen  Chambers,  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
was  born  in  Alabama,  December  25,  1853.  He  was  edu- 
cated by  tutors  and  in  private  schools,  and  was  graduated 
in  the  class  of  1873  from  Emory  College,  Georgia.  He 
immediately  began  the  study  of  medicine.     In  the  summer 


§8  DR.  P.  FLEWELLEX  CHAMBERS. 

of  1874  he  entered  the  Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College, 
New  York,  from  which  institution  he  was  graduated  in  1876, 
when  he  served  on  the  house  staff  of  the  Presbyterian  Hos- 
pital, and  following  that  went  to  the  Woman's  Hospital 
in  the  same  capacity.  On  leaving  the  Woman's  Hospital 
he  became  associated  with  Dr.  T.  Gaillard  Thomas  in  his 
private  hospital — a  connection  which  continued  during  the 
next  ten  years. 

Dr.  Chambers  is  now  Assistant  Surgeon  of  the  Woman's 
Hospital,  having  been  appointed  to  that  honor  just  three 
years  after  leaving  the  house  staff.  In  all  things  appertain- 
ing to  his  profession  he  is  an  enthusiast.  He  is  a  mem- 
ber of  several  medical  associations,  notably  the  New  York 
Academy  of  Medicine,  the  New  York  Obstretrical  Society, 
and  the  British  Gynaecological  Society.  As  a  writer  on 
gynaecological  subjects  he  is  well  known.  And  as  an  ope- 
rator he  is  unusually  dexterous  in  handling  his  instruments, 
and  in  the  ease  with  which  he  works  he  shows  the  master. 
He  has  shown  remarkably  good  results  in  the  operations 
for  hysterectomy  and  removal  of  ovarian  cysts,  and  in 
all  of  the  plastic  operations  of  the  uterus  and  vagina.  He 
is  regarded  not  only  as  one  of  the  most  conservative,  but 
also  as  one  of  the  most  brilliant  of  the  young  operators, 
and  his  skill  in  diagnosis  has  been  so  widely  recognized 
that  he  is  repeatedly  called  in  consultation  in  obscure 
gynaecological  cases,  not  only  in  New  York,  but  in  all  the 
neighboring  cities. 

A  comparatively  short  time  ago  Dr.  Chambers  estab- 
lished a  private  hospital  for  the  treatment  of  women's  dis- 
eases, where  are  found  all  the  conveniences  and  appli- 
ances for  modern  work,  as  well  as  all  the  luxuries  of  a 
well-appointed  home.  This  hospital  has  been  most  suc- 
cessful. 

On  June  1,  1893,  Dr.  Chambers  was  married  to  Alice, 
daughter  of  W.  H.  Ely,  brother  of  ex- Mayor  Smith  Ely, 
of  New  York  City. 


^S^gB 


>~ 


DR.  IDA  E.   RICHARDSON. 


89 


Dr.  Chambers  has  a  pleasing  personality,  and  has  won 
an  enviable  position,  not  only  in  medicine,  but  in  social 
and  financial  circles  as  well.  He  is  a  member  of  several 
of  the  leading  social  clubs,  and  a  friend  and  welcome 
guest  of  the  best  families  of  New  York,  the  city  of  his 
adoption. 


IDA  E.  RICHARDSON,  M.D., 

PHILADELPHIA,   PA. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch,  the  youngest  daughter  of 
William  Henry  Richardson  and  Catharine  Hill,  Dr.  Ida 
E.  Richardson,  was  born  in  Philadelphia,  November  29, 
1845. 

In  her  mother's  family  were  two  medical  men  well 
known  in  Philadelphia. 

Dr.  Richardson's  grandfather,  John  Howard  Hill,  M.D., 
was  one  of  the  first  surgeons  of  the  City  Troop ;  and  her 
uncle,  Charles  H.  Hill,  M.D.,  is  the  oldest  living  graduate 
of  Jefferson  Medical  College. 

After  the  usual  home,  school,  and  seminary  life  of  a 
young  girl,  Dr.  Richardson  was  graduated,  Bachelor  of 
Arts,  from  the  Wesleyan  Female  Seminary  of  Wilmington, 
Del.  Her  thoughts  turning  to  the  study  of  medicine,  she 
became  a  member  of  the  class  of  1879  *n  tne  Woman's 
Medical  College  of  Pennsylvania. 

After  a  year  as  interne  in  the  Woman's  Hospital  of 
Philadelphia  she  entered  upon  an  exceptionally  successful 
private  practice.  For  two  years  she  served  as  clinician, 
and  since  that  time  she  has  been  consulting  physician  in 
the  Woman's  Hospital. 

Dr.  Richardson  has  done  well  her  share  in  the  instruc- 
tion of  undergraduates  and  young  physicians  of  less  ex- 
perience than  her  own.  For  four  years  she  was  clinical 
lecturer  and  demonstrator  of  the  Principles  and  Practice 


go  DR.  IDA  E.  RICHARDSON. 

of  Medicine  in  the  Woman's  Medical  College ;  and, 
since  the  time  when  the  calls  of  her  own  practice  com- 
pelled her  to  relinquish  her  more  public  duties,  she  has 
always  given  freely  of  her  time  and  skill  in  the  aid  of 
younger  practitioners. 

There  are,  to-day,  in  Philadelphia  and  elsewhere,  many 
young  doctors,  who,  in  a  moment  of  uncertainty,  turn  in- 
stinctively to  Dr.  Richardson  for  counsel ;  feeling  not 
only  absolute  confidence  that  the  advice  received  will  be 
the  best  results  of  years  of  faithful  research  and  of  practi- 
cal work,  but,  also,  that  the  appeal  for  help  will  receive 
the  instant,  complete  attention  and  gracious,  courteous 
response  of  a  large-hearted,  unselfish,  Christian  woman, 
whose  great  joy  it  is  to  be  a  helper  of  others. 

To  the  proposal  to  open  a  hospital  for  women  in  West 
Philadelphia  Dr.  Richardson  was  one  of  the  first  to  re- 
spond, and  from  the  foundation  of  that  institution  she 
has  been  one  of  the  staff  of  visiting  physicians,  and  has 
given  liberally  to  it  of  her  time,  money,  and  skill. 

It  is  in  the  operating-room  of  this  West  Philadelphia 
Hospital  for  Women  that  most  of  her  abdominal  surgery 
has  been  done.  The  majority  of  cases  operated  on  have 
been  watched  for  months,  some  of  them  for  years,  and, 
with  a  single  exception,  the  results,  both  immediate  and 
after  the  lapse  of  time,  have  been  so  thoroughly  satisfac- 
tory to  both  patient  and  operator  as  to  lead  to  the  con- 
clusion that  in  the  choice  of  suitable  cases,  in  skilful 
operating,  and  in  judicious  after-treatment,  Dr.  Richardson 
has  earned  the  title  of  a  successful  abdominal  surgeon. 

For  six  years  she  was  attending  physician  to  Bryn  Mawr 
College. 

Though  Philadelphia  owns  the  oldest  woman's  medical 
college  in  the  United  States,  still  the  feeling  against 
women  physicians  here  continued  long  and  bitter,  but 
finally,  yielding  to  the  inevitable,  one  medical  society 
ventured  to  add  women  to  their  numbers,  and  Drs.  Han- 


2^1— 


DR.    W.  A.  B.  SELL  MAN, 


91 


nah  Croasdale  and  Ida  E.  Richardson  were  the  first  women 
elected  to  membership  in  a  Philadelphia  medical  society. 
Dr.  Richardson  is  also  a  member  of  the  County  Medical, 
the  Obstetrical,  and  the  Neurological  Societies  of  Phila- 
delphia. 

Dr.  Richardson's  warm,  true  heart  and  unselfish  dispo- 
sition have  made  her  many  ardent  friends,  not  only  among 
her  numerous  patients,  but  in  her  social  life.  She  is  dig- 
nified in  manner,  commanding  the  respect  of  all  persons 
coming  under  her  influence ;  successful  as  an  honest 
practitioner,  and  truly  loyal  to  her  profession. 


W.  A.  B.  SELLMAN,  M.D., 

BALTIMORE,  MD. 

Dr.  William  Alfred  Belt  Sellman  was  born  at  Barnes- 
ville,  Montgomery  County,  Md.,  June  10,  1850.  He  is 
the  only  child  of  John  J.  M.  Sellman,  who  married  Ann 
Elizabeth,  a  daughter  of  Alfred  Belt,  of  Loudoun  County, 
Va.  On  the  paternal  side  he  descended  from  the  Sell- 
mans  of  Wales,  England  ;  and  on  the  maternal  side  from 
the  Belts  of  Scotland,  whose  ancestors  can  be  traced  back 
for  centuries.  The  Campbells  of  Scotland  are  near  kin, 
and  Dr.  Sellman's  ancestry  upon  both  sides  made  honor- 
able records  during  the  Revolutionary  War.  Dr.  Sell- 
man's  parents  removed  to  Frederick  City,  Md.,  in  1852, 
where  he  received  his  early  education  at  the  Frederick 
Academy,  an  institution  which  has  made  a  reputation  in 
the  higher  education  of  young  men  in  the  State  of  Maryland. 
The  Sellman  family  removed  to  Baltimore  in  1866,  and 
the  son  was  placed  at  St.  Timothy's  Hall,  Catonsville, 
Md.,  a  military  and  collegiate  institutute,  having  an  at- 
tendance of  about  400  students.  This  was  intended  as 
preparatory  to  entrance  at  West  Point. 


q2  DR.    W.  A.   B.  SELLMAX. 

Later  it  was  decided  that  Dr.  Sellman  should  enter  the 
medical  profession,  and  in  1870  he  entered  the  office  of 
Dr.  Nathan  R.  Smith.  About  a  month  later  the  young 
student  was  thrown  out  of  a  carriage  and  received  injuries 
which  confined  him  to  his  room  for  eight  months;  during 
this  time  his  course  of  medical  reading  was  kept  up,  but 
the  winter  course  of  lectures  was  lost.  He  was  graduated 
at  the  University  of  Maryland,  February,  1S72,  and  was 
honored  by  membership  in  the  Rush  Medical  Club  in 
that  institution.  After  graduation  he  travelled  through 
the  South,  including  Florida.  His  intention  was  to  take  a 
post-graduate  course  in  Germany,  but  his  preceptor,  Dr. 
Smith,  was  taken  ill,  and  was  compelled  to  go  to  Jamaica 
for  his  health,  and  he  assumed  charge  of  Dr.  Smiths  office 
during  his  absence  from  the  city. 

January,  1873,  ^e  commenced  general  practice  in  Balti- 
more. His  perseverance  was  rewarded  by  success  and  he 
rapidly  built  up  a  large  practice.  He  drifted  into  gynseco- 
logical  work,  and  in  1884  was  elected  Professor  of  the 
Diseases  of  Women  in  the  Baltimore  University  School  of 
Medicine  and  Gynaecologist  to  the  hospital  connected 
with  that  institution.  He  succeeded  to  the  chair  made 
vacant  by  the  death  of  Prof.  Harvey  L.  Byrd,  whose  writ- 
ings and  records  are  well  known  to  the  profession.  Dr. 
Sellman  at  once  did  some  brilliant  laparotomy  work  in 
this  line.  He  established  a  reputation  both  as  a  lecturer 
and  as  a  clinical  instructor.  He  has  not  had  the  time  to 
do  much  writing  for  publication,  but  has  contributed 
papers  to  various  societies  of  which  he  is  a  member.  He 
is  remarked  for  his  neatness  in  appearance  and  the  perfect 
system  which  he  insists  upon  being  carried  out  in  the  de- 
partments under  his  control.  In  1892  the  Chair  of  Ob- 
stetrics was  added  to  his  work  in  Gynaecology.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  American  Medical  Association,  and 
since  1880  has  attended  many  of  its  meetings.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Medical  and  Chirurgical  Faculty  of  the 


DR.  BYRON  G.   CLARK. 


93 


State  of  Maryland.  Also  of  the  Baltimore  Medical  Asso- 
ciation and  of  the  Clinical  Society.  He  was  a  member 
of  the  International  Medical  Congress  which  met  in 
Washington  in  1887  ;  also  of  the  Pan-American  Con- 
gress. 

Dr.  Sellman's  statistics  in  ovariotomy,  oophorectomy, 
hysterectomy,  etc.,  compare  favorably  with  those  of  other 
operators  as  to  mortality.  He  is  an  advocate  for  the  treat- 
ment of  metritis  and  endometritis  by  radical  means  (rapid 
dilatation  and  curetting).  He  has  devised  a  set  of  instru- 
ments, which  he  calls  his  reamers,  for  the  removal  of  the 
dense  fibrous  tissue  at  the  internal  os  uteri. 

He  pleads  earnestly  for  the  maintenance  of  physical  ex- 
ercise by  all  persons  as  they  advance  in  years.  He  ad- 
vises men  and  women  to  keep  up  their  muscular  develop- 
ment by  a  temperate  indulgence  in  bicycle-riding,  rowing, 
skating,  etc. 

Dr.  Sellman  married  Miss  Mary  Oliver,  of  Baltimore, 
in  1882,  whose  father  was  Thomas  Vinton  Oliver  of  Massa- 
chusetts.    Their  only  child  is  a  son,  born  December,  1884. 


BYRON  G.  CLARK,  M.D., 

NEW   YORK,    N.  Y. 

Dr.  Byron  George  Clark,  a  successful  and  popular 
New  York  City  physician,  has  achieved  his  position  by 
dint  of  severe  and  persevering  labors.  He  is  strictly  a 
self-made  man,  who  from  the  first  has  been  advanced  only 
by  his  own  studious  application,  his  intelligent  devotion, 
and  his  skill  in  his  profession. 

His  entrance  upon  medical  studies  was  under  the  influ- 
ence of  the  allopathic  school,  but  subsequently  he  was 
converted  to  homoeopathy  by  a  careful  investigation  of  its 
tenets  and  principles,  which  appeared  to  be  more  in  accord 
with  nature  and  the  progressive  spirit  of  the  age. 


qa  DR.  BYRON  G.  CLARK. 

Among  the  practitioners  of  the  new  school  Dr.  Clark 
is  to  be  classed  as  a  firm  believer  in  the  medium  and  higher 
potencies,  which  are  to  be  employed  with  a  nice  gradua- 
tion and  discrimination  as  to  the  individual  case. 

His  methods  are  justified  by  his  success  in  building  up 
a  fine  practice  in  the  Harlem  district  of  New  York  City, 
with  a  large  clientage  among  the  most  intelligent  and 
highly  respectable  families. 

Of  ancient  Pilgrim  ancestry,  Byron  George  Clark,  born 
in  Charlestown,  New  Hampshire,  February  15,  1847,  is  tne 
son  of  Aaron  Clark,  a  native  of  Princeton,  Massachusetts, 
who  married  Mary  Ann  Towner,  of  Charlestown,  where 
he  engaged  in  farming. 

Hence,  as  in  the  case  of  so  many  able  men,  contributed 
by  the  country  to  the  city,  Dr.  Clark's  childhood  and 
youth  were  spent  on  a  farm. 

He  enjoyed  the  advantages  of  the  public  schools,  supple- 
mented by  private  instruction.  Afterward  he  was  placed 
in  a  banking-house  in  New  York  City  with  a  view  to 
starting  him  in  a  commercial  career.  It  was  while  so  em- 
ployed that  he  definitely  decided  to  become  a  physician, 
and  with  characteristic  energy  he  set  about  the  arduous 
task  of  preparation.  His  spare  moments  out  of  banking- 
hours  were  devoted  to  study.  Persevering  under  great 
difficulties  he  fitted  himself  for  a  preparatory  college  course. 

After  taking  a  special  course  of  lectures  at  the  Long 
Island  College  Hospital,  he  entered  Dartmouth  Medical 
College,  from  which  he  was  graduated  in  1877.  He  re- 
turned to  New  York  for  a  post-graduate  course  in  materia 
medica  at  the  New  York  Homoeopathic  Medical  College, 
and  finally  located  at  Windsor,  Vermont. 

He  was  the  first  physician  of  the  new  school  established 
in  Windsor,  where  he  soon  built  up  an  extensive  practice. 
The  long  and  exhaustive  rides  necessitated  by  a  large 
village  and  country  practice  proving  too  severe  for  his 
physical  endurance,  he  sought  out  a  good  man  to  take  his 


LR.  BYRON  G.    CLARK.  n- 

place,  and  himself  removed  to  New  York,  where  he  located 
in  1882. 

It  was  remarked  by  an  old  resident  that  Dr.  Clark  was 
the  "first  physician  who  left  Windsor  because  he  had  too 
much  to  do." 

While  Dr.  Clark  is  an  "all-round"  family  physician 
rather  than  a  specialist,  yet  he  has  been  accustomed  each 
year  to  take  up  a  post-graduate  course  in  some  leading 
specialty.  In  this  way  he  acquired  a  critical  knowledge 
and  thorough  equipment  in  various  departments,  and  to 
this  fact  is  doubtless  to  be  attributed  a  portion  of  his  pecu- 
liar success. 

The  departments  of  gynsecology  and  ophthalmology  are 
among  the  subjects  to  which  he  has  thus  given  special 
attention,  and  in  which  he  has  shown  especial  aptitude. 

Dr.  Clark,  until  recently,  was  visiting  physician  to  the 
Hahnemann  Hospital.  He  has  also  resigned  his  charge 
as  visiting  physician  to  the  Laura  Franklin  Free  Hospital 
for  Children. 

He  is  a  prominent  member  of  the  American  Institute  of 
Homoeopathy,  the  Homoeopathic  State  and  County  So- 
cieties, the  Carroll  Durham  Medical  Club,  the  Materia 
Medica  Society,  the  Pedological  Society  (Homoeopathic), 
American  Society  of  Orificial  Surgeons,  the  Homoeopathic 
Union,  and  Honorary  Member  of  the  Vermont  State 
Homoeopathic  Medical  Society. 

Dr.  Clark's  first  wife,  Annie  G.  Ensworth,  of  Waterford, 
Pennsylvania,  died  in  May,  1875.  In  October,  1878,  he 
married  Eiida  Peck,  daughter  of  the  late  Samuel  Peck,  of 
New  York  City.     They  have  three  children. 

He  is  an  active  member  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church,  and  is  known  as  a  public-spirited  and  highly  re- 
spected citizen  as  well  as  an  able  and  progressive  physician. 


96  dr.  b  franklin  betts. 

B.    FRANKLIN   BETTS,  M.D., 

PHILADELPHIA,    PA. 

B.  Franklin  Betts,  M.D.,  Professor  of  Gynaecology  in 
the  Hahnemann  Medical  College  of  Philadelphia,  was  born 
in  Warminster,  Bucks  County,  Pennsylvania,  December  i, 
1845,  and  is  the  son  of  John  and  Sarah  C.  Malone  Betts. 

He  came  to  Philadelphia  to  reside  in  1862.  In  the 
year  1868  he  was  graduated  from  the  Hahnemann  Medical 
College  of  that  city,  and  started  for  Europe  soon  after  to 
complete  his  medical  education  by  a  two- years'  course  of 
study  at  Vienna,  Austria. 

•  In  1870  he  returned  to  Philadelphia  and  commenced 
the  practice  of  his  profession,  making  a  specialty  of  the 
diseases  of  women  and  children. 

In  1872  he  was  elected  Professor  of  Physiology  and 
Microscopic  Anatomy  in  the  college  from  which  he  had 
taken  his  degree. 

Before  this  time  gynaecology  was  rarely  recognized  as  a 
distinct  department  of  medical  science,  but,  with  the  rapid 
advance  made  in  abdominal  surgery,  a  new  impetus  to  the 
study  of  the  pathological  basis  of  many  of  the  diseases 
peculiar  to  females  was  felt,  and  believing  that  the  time 
had  come  for  a  departure  which  should  broaden  the  field 
of  study  for  students,  the  Faculty  of  Hahnemann  Medical 
College  established  the  department  of  gynaecology  in  1876, 
and  elected  Prof.  Betts  to  the  chair,  which  he  has  so  ably 
filled  ever  since. 

With  an  intense  interest  in  his  specialty  he  applied  him- 
self to  the  establishment  of  a  clinic  for  the  medical  and 
surgical  treatment  of  gynaecological  cases,  and  soon  after 
acquired  facilities  in  the  hospital  connected  with  the 
college  for  the  reception  of  this  class  of  patients  under  his 
immediate  control.     Through  his  efforts  this  department 


tfe  Jj^-if^ 


/Y^-    f<L,  /o&^^ 


DR.    WILLIAM  HENRY  BAKER.  gy 

has  grown  to  be  one  of  the  most  important  connected 
with  this  institution,  so  that  large  classes  are  annually  in 
attendance  upon  his  lectures  and  clinics,  and  means  are 
afforded  for  the  most  thorough  and  complete  course  of 
practical  instruction  in  this  branch  of  medical  science. 

Prof.  Betts  has  held  the  position  of  Gynaecologist  to  the 
Hahnemann  Hospital  of  Philadelphia;  Consulting  Gynae- 
cologist to  the  Wilmington  Homceopathic  Hospital  in  the 
State  of  Delaware  ;  and  to  the  Out-patient  Department  of 
the  Children's  Homoeopathic  Hospital  of  Philadelphia. 
He  is  a  senior  member  of  the  American  Institute  of 
Homoeopathy,  and  a  member  of  numerous  State,  county, 
and  municipal  organizations,  in  all  of  which  he  takes  an 
active  interest. 

Both  in  hospital  and  private  practice  he  has  had  the 
advantage  of  a  large  and  varied  experience.  For  several 
years  he  delivered  a  course  of  lectures  annually  to  ad- 
vanced students  in  the  College  upon  the  diseases  of  chil- 
dren, and  when  increased  facilities  were  offered  by  the 
removal  of  the  institution  to  its  present  commodious  quar- 
ters on  Broad  Street,  Prof.  Betts'  chair  had  added  to  it  the 
Department  of  Paediatrics. 

As  a  teacher  he  is  clear,  concise,  and  progressive.  As 
a  physician  and  surgeon  eminently  skilled  and  successful, 
and  whilst  firm  in  his  convictions,  he  is  modest  and 
unassuming  in  his  intercourse  with  his  professional  col- 
leagues. 

WILLIAM  HENRY  BAKER,  M.D., 

BOSTON,   MASS. 

Dr.  William  Henry  Baker  was  born  in  Medford,  Mass., 
March  n,  1845,  and  is  descended  through  aline  of  honor- 
able ancestors  from  Richard  Baker,  who  came  from  Eng- 
land and  made  his  home  in  Dorchester,  Mass.,  1630. 

VOL.  II. — 7 


98 


DR.    WILLIAM  HENR  Y  LAKER. 


Dr.  Baker's  father,  the  Rev.  Abijah  R.  Baker,  D.D., 
was  a  Congregational  clergyman,  and  his  mother,  Harriet 
Woods,  a  well  known  author  and  a  woman  of  unusual 
beauty  of  character,  was  the  daughter  of  the  distinguished 
divine,  Rev.  Leonard  Woods,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  who,  for  many 
years,  was  President  of  the  Theological  Seminary  at  An- 
dover,  Mass.  < 

After  passing  his  boyhood  days  at  Wellesley,  where  his 
father  was  then  settled,  Dr.  Baker  continued  his  education 
at  the  Atkinson  Academy,  N.  H.  He  left  school  at  eigh- 
teen years  of  age,  and  was  engaged  for  six  years  in  busi- 
ness in  New  York  City.  While  possessing,  to  an  eminent 
degree,  all  the  qualifications  necessary  for  success  in  the 
.mercantile  world,  and  although  the  outlook  for  his  future 
was  most  flattering,  yet  he  felt  that  his  life's  work  lay  in 
another  direction. 

His  mother  had  been  an  invalid  from  the  time  of  his 
birth,  and  often  suffered  acutely.  On  this  account 
Dr.  Baker  gave  up  his  business  interests  and  entered  upon 
the  study  of  medicine  in  Harvard  University,  from  which 
he  received  the  degree  of  M.D.  in  1872. 

After  serving  one  year  in  the  Boston  City  Hospital,  he 
went  as  interne  to  the  Woman's  Hospital  in  New  York, 
and  was  assistant  for  eighteen  months  to  Drs.  J.  Marion 
Sims,  T.  Addis  Emmet,  T.  Gaillard  Thomas,  and  E.  R. 
Peaslee. 

From  the  fact  of  his  Puritan  descent  and  early  associa- 
tions it  is  not  surprising  that  he  should  select  the  city  of 
Boston  as  the  field  for  his  future  labor,  Thus  we  find  him 
at  the  outset  of  his  career,  in  1874,  physician  to  the 
Woman's  Room  in  the  Boston  Dispensary. 

Here  he  began  to  disseminate  the  knowledge  he  had 
acquired  from  his  masters  in  the  profession  at  the  Woman's 
Hospital  in  New  York. 

About  a  year  later  he  was  appointed  Clinical  Instructor 
of  the  Diseases  of  Women  at  the  Harvard  Medical  School, 


DR.   WILLIAM  HENR  Y  BAKER. 


99 


and  for  the  next  twenty  years  he  continuously  taught  that 
subject  there.  Indeed  it  may  be  said  that  he  created  that 
department  in  the  college.  In  1882  he  had  the  honor  of 
being  made  Professor  of  Gynaecology  in  Harvard  Univer- 
sity, and  he  held  that  chair  until  a  few  months  ago,  when 
he  resigned  in  order  to  devote  more  time  to  special  medi- 
cal researches,  and  also  to  his  work  at  the  Free  Hospital 
for  Women,  a  charity  which  owes  to  him  its  inception, 
organization  and  pre-eminent  success. 

Realizing  the  need  of  an  institution  in  Boston  for  the 
exclusive  treatment  of  poor  women  afflicted  with  the 
troubles  peculiar  to  their  sex,  Dr.  Baker  had  the  courage 
to  attempt  its  establishment,  although  he  had  had  but  one 
year  of  practice.  He  possessed  the  executive  ability  to 
carry  out  the  project,  and  now,  while  yet  in  active  service, 
he  sees  the  fruition  of  his  hopes.  Nearly  three  thousand 
patients  have  been  treated  in  the  wards  of  this  hospital, 
and  as  many  as  46,000  in  the  Out-patient  Department. 

The  new  building  recently  dedicated  embodies  all  that 
is  highest  in  hygienic  and  artistic  structure.  It  is  finely 
situated  in  the  Riverdale  Parkway,  in  the  immediate  suburbs 
of  Boston,  and  has  a  capacity  for  sixty  patients.  Every 
detail  of  this  most  successful  institution  is  under  Dr. 
Baker's  personal  supervision,  as  he  holds  the  dual  post  of 
Surgeon  and  Member  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  a  most 
fortunate  combination,  which,  if  secured  in  all  hospitals, 
would  tend  to  their  own  best  interests  in  discipline,  care 
of  patients  and  improved  medical  results. 

It  is  rarely  that  a  man  so  young  in  his  professional  life, 
and  located  in  such  a  conservative  and  old  a  place  as  Bos- 
ton, attains  to  such  eminence.  His  success  was,  however, 
considered  almost  assured  even  during  his  internship  at 
the  Woman's  Hospital.  By  his  intelligent  interest  and 
untiring  zeal  in  his  hospital  duties  he  very  soon  at- 
tracted the  notice  of  the  attending  surgeons.  Early  in  his 
course  he  manifested  that  unusual  dexterity  and  delicacy 


IOO  DR.    WILLIAM  HENRY  BAKER. 

of  touch  which  have  since  marked  his  work.  The  electric 
spark  of  genius  was  in  him,  and  soon  he  found  himself  on 
the  top  of  the  wave  of  professional  success. 

His  most  renowned  work  has  been  in  the  line  of  plastic 
surgery,  while  his  abdominal  surgery  has  been  especially 
noted  for  its  thoroughness. 

No  one  man  has  done  more  to  raise  the  science  of  gynae- 
cology to  the  highest  standard  of  honor  and  usefulness. 
His  ideas  are  liberal,  yet  never  radical,  and  his  name  is 
known  and  his  writings  quoted  throughout  the  medical 
world. 

Among  Dr.  Baker's  best-known  contributions  to  special 
literature  maybe  mentioned:  "Mechanical  Appliances 
in  Uterine  Surgery;"  "Lacerations  of  the  Cervix  Uteri 
as  a  Cause  of  Uterine  Disease;"  "Malpositions  of  the 
Uterus;"  "Vaginal  Ovariotomy;"  "Drainage  in  the 
Removal  of  Submucous  Fibroids;"  "The  Treatment  of 
Cancer  of  the  Uterus;"  "  Hyperaemia  of  the  Vesico-ure- 
thral  Membrane;"  "  Cancer  of  the  Uterus  :  Its  Treatment 
by  High  Amputation  Compared  with  Total  Extirpation  ;" 
"  Diseases  of  the  Urethra  and  Bladder  ;"  "  Cancer  of  the 
Cervix  Uteri :  Results  of  Its  Treatment  by  High  Amputa- 
tion." 

His  first  published  medical  paper  was  written  in  1872, 
the  year  of  his  graduation  in  medicine,  and  entitled : 
"Amenorrhcea  and  Its  Treatment  by  Electricity."  His 
second  paper  was  written  a  year  later,  and  entitled  :  "  Cases 
of  Amenorrhoea  Resulting  from  Undeveloped  Uteri." 

Dr.  Baker  is  Professor  of  Gynaecology,  Harvard  College ; 
Surgeon  to  the  Free  Hospital  for  Women,  Boston;  Fellow 
of  the  American  and  British  Gynaecological  Societies ;  Mem- 
ber Alumni  Association  Woman's  Hospital,  New  York,  and 
of  the  Boston  City  Hospital ;  Member  Boston  Obstetrical 
Society  and  Massachusetts  Medical  Society ;  ex- Vice- 
President  American  Gynaecological  Society;  Hon.  Presi- 
dent International  Congress,  Belgium,  etc. 


DR.  MARY  H.  Mc LEAN.  J0I 

His  most  striking  characteristic,  perhaps,  is  an  unfailing 
courtesy  and  kindliness  of  manner,  together  with  the  stamp 
of  genuineness  in  every  word  and  act. 

To  his  patients  he  is  most  sympathetic,  always  unwearied 
in  his  care  of  them,  and  shrinks  from  no  exertion  in  their 
behalf. 

To  his  students  at  the  medicai  school  he  has  been  a 
prince  among  instructors.  His  clinics  were  constantly 
crowded,  and  his  lectures  abounded  in  practical  teaching. 
Many  a  young  physician  owes  his  success  to  the  encour- 
agement and  generous  assistance  which  Dr.  Baker  has 
given  him.  Incapable  of  envy,  and  never  undervaluing  the 
work  of  another,  he  is  never  boastful  of  his  own  achieve- 
ments. 

His  noble  and  vigorous  nature  retains  all  the  happy 
buoyancy  of  youth,  and  his  face  is  like  the  sunshine  itself 
in  the  sick-room,  his  presence  alone  being  a  veritable  tower 
of  strength. 

Loving  his  profession  with  an  ever-fresh  enthusiasm,  he 
still  labors  in  the  arena  he  has  so  exalted. 


MARY  H.  McLEAN,  M.D., 

ST.  LOUIS,  MO. 

Dr.  Mary  H.  McLean  was  born  in  the  year  1861  in 

Washington,  Missouri,  a  village  situated  about  fifty  miles 
west  of  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

She  is  the  daughter  of  Dr.  Elijah  McLean,  who  has 
been  an  honorable  member  of  the  medical  profession  for 
many  years.  He  is  at  the  present  time  in  his  ninety-second 
year,  yet  retains  all  his  faculties,  and  commands  the  admir- 
ing love  and  respect  of  all  who  are  so  fortunate  as  to 
know  him.  He  was  born  in  Kentucky  in  the  year  1804,  and 
moved  to  Missouri  in  his  early  childhood,  where  he  braved 
all   the  hardships  of  an   Indian   country.     He   educated 


I02  DR.  MARY  H.  MCLEAN. 

himself,  studied  medicine  with  a  fine  preceptor,  taking 
one  short  course  of  study  at  Lexington,  Ky.,  and  then 
entered  upon  a  successful  medical  career.  For  thirty 
years  he  stood  at  the  head  of  his  profession  in  his  county. 
His  early  trials  in  life  prompted  him  to  give  his  chil- 
dren every  opportunity  of  acquiring  a  thorough  educa- 
tion. At  the  age  of  thirteen  years  he  placed  his  daugh- 
ter, Mary  H.  McLean,  inLindenwood  College,  St.  Charles, 
Missouri,  where  her  early  education  was  obtained. 

The  doctor's  mother,  Mary  C.  Stafford,  was  of  pure 
English  extraction.  She  was  the  daughter  of  an  educated 
Presbyterian  clergyman,  and  was  a  woman  of  rare  physi- 
cal, intellectual,  and  moral  strength.  Being  a  descendant 
of  such  parents  it  is  not  surprising  that  Dr.  Mary  H.  Mc- 
Lean has  achieved  a  prominence  in  her  profession  which 
but  few  so  young  as  she  can  claim. 

After  spending  three  years  in  Lindenwood  College,  for 
one  year  she  was  a  student  at  Vassar  College,  New  York. 
There  she  met  and  admired  Doctor  Helen  Worthing  "Web- 
ster. The  admiration  for  this  gifted  woman  had  great  in- 
fluence upon  the  mind  of  Dr.  McLean  to  induce  her  to 
enter  upon  professional  studies  the  following  year. 

She  entered  the  University  of  Michigan  in  the  fall  of 
1880,  and  took  the  degree  in  June,  1883. 

In  April,  1884,  she  began  the  practice  of  medicine  in 
St.  Louis,  Mo.  In  April,  1885  she  received  a  year's  ap- 
pointment from  the  city  as  assistant  physician  to  the 
Female  Hospital,  a  city  institution,  with  a  capacity  of 
between  two  hundred  and  fifty  and  three  hundred  beds. 

Holding  this  position  in  the  hospital,  an  opportunity 
was  found  to  overcome  in  some  degree  the  strong  preju- 
dice against  medical  women  which  existed  in  the  profes- 
sion of  St.  Louis  at  that  time. 

In  April,  1886,  Dr.  McLean  again  entered  into  private 
practice  in  St.  Louis,  and  was  very  soon  elected  the  first 
and  only  woman  in  the  St.  Louis  Medical  Society. 


'0L&6^ 


At® 


DR.   BACHE  MCE  VERS  EMMET.  lo? 

Her  strong  surgical  taste  led  her  into  that  line  of  work, 
and  she  is  now  known  only  as  a  gynaecological  surgeon, 
with  remarkable  success  in  abdominal  operations.  For 
three  years  she  has  been  doing  this  special  line  of  surgery, 
and  much  of  her  success  as  a  surgeon  has  been  the  fruit  of 
caution,  care,  and  neatness  in  her  work. 

She  justly  deserves  the  prominence  which  she  has  at- 
tained. Many  of  her  cases  in  pelvic  surgery  have  been  of 
the  most  serious  character,  followed  with  good  and  happy 
results,  with  a  very  small  mortality.  Dr.  McLean  is  not  a 
rapid  and  brilliant  operator,  but  she  is  thorough  and  con- 
scientious about  details,  and  she  has  no  incomplete  cases. 


BACHE    McEVERS   EMMET,  M.D., 

NEW    YORK    CITY,    N.    Y. 

Dr.  Bache  McEvers  Emmet  is  a  native  of  New  York 
City,  where  his  people  have  been  settled  since  1803,  the 
year  in  which  his  grandfather,  Thomas  Addis  Emmet,  Esq., 
came  from  Ireland,  having  been  driven  to  this  self-expa- 
triation by  the  political  disturbances  in  which  his  brother, 
Robert,  was  engaged  in  his  own  country.  A  monument 
erected  to  the  memory  of  Thomas  Addis  Emmet  by  his 
friends  and  compatriots  stands  in  St.  Paul's  churchyard, 
facing  Broadway,  and  tells  of  his  many  virtues  and  noble 
life.  On  his  mother's  side  Dr.  Bache  Emmet  springs 
from  Dutch  stock,  his  mother  being  a  Coster,  a  descend- 
ant of  the  famous  Laurens  Janszoon  Coster,  who  disputes 
with  Gutenberg  the  merit  of  being  the  inventor  of  the 
printing  press.  Two  monuments  to  his  memory  stand  in 
Haarlem,  the  Netherlands;  one  erected  in  1823,  the 
second,  a  bronze  one  by  Royer,  was  erected  with  national 
solemnity  in  the  market-place,  July  16,  1856. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  born  in   1843,  and  re- 


io4 


DR.  BACHE  MCE  VERS  EMMET. 


ceived  his  early  education  in  private  schools  in  this  State. 
At  the  age  of  twelve  he  was  placed  in  a  private  school  in 
Switzerland,  and,  later  on,  took  his  courses  at  the  St.  Louis 
Lyceum  in  Paris. 

As  his  parents  choose  to  reside  in  the  French  Capital,  and 
as  Dr.  Emmet  had  selected  medicine  as  a  profession,  he 
began  his  studies  in  1863  under  the  celebrated  French 
physicians  and  surgeons  of  the  day,  Bouillaud,  Bouchut, 
and  Grisolle,  Velpeau,  Chassaignac,  Jobert  de  Lamballe, 
Trousseau,  and  Pajot. 

He  fortunately  enjoyed  exceptional  opportunities  of 
seeing  much  hospital  service,  and  constantly  associated 
with  the  rising  men  of  the  time,  who  have  since  made 
names  in  practice  and  in  medical  literature. 

At  that  time  the  War  of  the  Rebellion  was  still  in  pro- 
gress, and  the  young  student  had  a  strong  desire  to  be  of 
some  help  to  his  country  and  hoped  that,  by  special 
studies  followed  at  the  military  medical  school  under  the 
famous  Dr.  Larrey,  son  of  Baron  Larrey  of  the  First 
Empire,  he  might  fit  himself  for  an  humble  post  in  the 
Medical  Corps  of  the  United  States  Army,  and  so  under- 
took the  work.  His  parents,  however,  were  but  little  dis- 
posed to  have  him  carry  out  this  design,  and  the  years 
merged  into  1865,  when  the  blessing  of  peace  was  once 
more  spread  over  the  land.  Dr.  Emmet  then  carried 
on  his  studies  to  the  end,  taking  special  courses  with 
Nelaton,  Tarnier,  and  Depaul.  During  these  years  he  also 
enjoyed  an  intimate  acquaintance  in  Dr.  Marion  Sims's 
family,  who  was  then  the  surgical  lion  of  the  Eastern  hemi- 
sphere, but  he  had  received  as  yet  none  but  the  most  vague 
idea  of  the  meaning  of  gynaecology,  though  familiar  with 
the  writings  of  Bernutz  and  Goupil,  and  the  practice  of 
Nonat  and  a  few  others,  who  were  doing  this  work 
through  the  Ferguson  speculum. 

Dr.  Emmet  returned  to  the  States  in  1867  and  entered 
at  once  into  the  atmosphere  which  has  surrounded  him 


DR.  BACHE  MCE  VERS  EMMET. 


I05 


ever  since.  In  addition  to  his  studies  in  Paris  he  took 
his  degree  at  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons 
(Columbia),  and  through  his  association  with  his  cousin, 
Dr.  Thomas  Addis  Emmet,  entered  the  Woman's  Hospital 
in  the  State  of  New  York,  as  interne,  in  1869.  He  served 
there  the  usual  eighteen  months  and  then  took  up  his 
active  life-work.  His  taste  led  him  for  some  time  into 
general  practice,  and  he  has  been  called  upon  to  do  much 
of  it,  though  constantly  leaning  to  his  guiding  specialty 
which,  for  the  past  few  years,  has  absorbed  his  entire 
attention. 

His  appointment  as  Professor  of  the  Diseases  of  Women 
at  the  New  Post  Graduate  Medical  School  and  Hospital  in 
1884,  and  as  full  surgeon  in  1889  to  the  Woman's  Hos- 
pital, which  he  had  served  as  assistant  surgeon  for  eighteen 
years,  definitely  shaped  the  direction  his  work  should 
take,  though  it  had  been  foreshadowed  within  that  time 
by  a  considerable  number  of  valuable  papers  contributed 
to  the  gynaecological  journals  and  to  various  text-books 
which  have  appeared  in  late  years.  Some  of  these  are : 
"The  Abuse  of  Intrauterine  Medication;"  "Retro- 
peritoneal Cysts  of  the  Female  Sexual  Organs  :  A  Study  of 
their  Treatment;"  "A  Case  of  Extrauterine  Foetation, 
Successfully  Treated  by  Galvanism  ;"  "  Laceration  of  the 
Cervix  Uteri,"  in  Mann's  American  System  of  Gynecology  ; 
"  Amputation  of  the  Cervix  Often  Preferable  to  Attempts 
at  Repair;"  "Galvanism  in  Gynaecology;"  "Outlines  of 
Uterine  Therapeutics,  Especially  Massage  and  Electricity," 
in  Keating  and  Coe's  American  Gynecology;  "Removal 
of  the  Uterus  in  Disease  of  the  Adnexa,  Argument  in  the 
Negative,"  in  Trafisactions  of  the  American  Gynecological 
Society,  1894;  "Injured  Ureters  in  Abdominal  Surgery, 
their  Care,  with  Report  of  a  Case  of  Anastomosis  and 
Recovery." 

Dr.  Emmet  is  also  Gynaecologist  to  the  Columbus  Hos- 
pital in  New  York,  and  has  devised  a  number  of  surgical 


1Q6  DR.  R.  LCD  LAM,   SR. 

instruments  which  have  met  with  considerable  favor  among 
his  colleagues.  He  is  ex-President  of  the  New  York 
Obstetrical  Society,  a  member  of  the  British  Gynaecolog- 
ical Society,  and  of  the  numerous  local  societies  in  the  city 
of  New  York. 

His  connection  with  various  hospitals  demands  much  of 
his  time,  but  it  is  given  most  willingly,  as  gynaecological 
surgery  has  a  great  fascination  for  him,  and  he  is  most 
gratified  to  show  any  new  work  to  his  confreres,  who 
attend  his  clinics  in  large  numbers. 

Dr.  Emmet  married  Anne  Frances,  youngest  daughter 
of  the  late  Judge  Levinus  Monson. 

Prof.  R.  LUDLAM,  Sr.,  M.D., 

CHICAGO,  ILL. 

Dr.  Reuben  Ludlam,  Sr.,  was  born  in  Camden,  New 
Jersey,  October  7,  1831,  and  is  the  first  of  seven  children. 
His  father,  J.  W.  Ludlam,  M.D.,  was  a  distinguished  and 
excellent  physician,  a  graduate  of  the  medical  department 
of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  who  removed  to  Illinois 
and  died  in  Evanston  in  1858.  His  mother,  of  good  old 
Quaker  parentage,  is  still  living  (1896).  His  medical  pro- 
clivities were  disclosed  at  a  very  early  age,  and,  being  an 
almost  constant  companion  of  his  father,  he  was  every- 
where called  the  young  doctor.  From  being  so  often  at 
the  bedside,  and  participating  silently  in  the  examination 
of  the  patients,  he  had  such  a  clinical  training  that  it  would 
be  impossible  to  say  when  his  medical  education  began. 
As  he  grew  this  professional  intimacy  with  his  father 
ripened  into  a  habit  of  analyzing  all  sorts  of  cases,  and  to 
this  circumstance,  as  well  as  to  his  unusual  hospital  ad- 
vantages, while  in  college  and  afterward,  may  be  traced 
the  source  of  his  ultimate  success  as  a  clinical  teacher  and 
author. 


Cft.   C^^ch^^ 


DR.   R.   LUDLAM,  SR. 


IO7 


After  a  three-years'  course  in  the  University  of  Penn- 
sylvania, he  took  his  medic  al  degree  therefrom  in  April, 
1852.  He  soon  afterward  located  in  Chicago,  where  for 
more  than  forty  years  he  has  been  constantly  and  exclu- 
sively engaged  in  the  practical  duties  of  a  physician  and 
surgeon.  At  that  time  the  population  of  Chicago  was 
only  32,000,  and  professional  men  of  all  kinds  had  the 
usual  frontier  experience,  of  which  his  was  no  exception 
to  the  rule.  Early  obstacles  were  vanquished  only  by  in- 
dustry and  perseverance,  and  he  so^n  found  himself  in 
possession  of  a  very  large  general  practice. 

In  1859,  upon  the  first  organization  of  the  Hahnemann 
Medical  College  and  Hospital  of  Chicago,  Dr.  Ludlam 
was  chosen  to  the  Chair  of  Physiology,  Pathology,  and 
Clinical  Medicine.  After  four  years  of  service  he  was 
transferred  to  that  of  Obstetrics  and  the  Diseases  of  Women 
and  Children,  which  chair  he  occupied  for  the  next  ten 
years,  when,  at  his  request,  it  was  divided,  and  he  was 
placed  in  charge  of  the  new  department  of  gynsecology. 
At  the  session  of  1884-85  his  sphere  of  teaching  was 
limited  to  clinical  gynsecology,  to  the  surgical  part  of 
which  he  has  since  been  exclusively  devoted. 

To  perfect  himself  in  the  study  and  teaching  of  his 
specialty,  Dr.  Ludlam  has  made  four  visits  to  the  hospitals 
of  Europe,  where  the  best  possible  advantages  have  been 
placed  at  his  disposal,  and  whence  he  has  derived  a  great 
variety  of  resource.  One  of  his  most  popular  introduc- 
tory lectures  (1875)  was  entitled  "Three  Months  in  the 
Old  Hospitals  of  Paris." 

Not  only  have  his  clinical  lectures  and  hospital  service 
been  widely  known  and  appreciated  by  students  and  phy- 
sicians who  have  come  to  his  clinics  from  all  quarters,  and 
by  the  readers  of  our  periodical  literature,  but  his  work  as 
a  specialist  has  been  widespread  and  very  extensive.  He 
has  performed  many  difficult  and  remarkable  abdominal 
and  pelvic  operations  all  over  the  country,  having  visited 


10g  DR.  R.  LUDLAM,  SR. 

no  less  than  sixteen  cf  the  different  Stater  rnd  nearly  all 
of  the  chief  cities  and  towns  of  the  West  for  that  purpose. 
Of  late,  however,  his  operative  work,  whether  private  or 
public,  is  chiefly  done  in  the  Hahnemann  Hospital. 

As  a  clinical  teacher,  Dr.  Ludlam  is  direct,  forcible,  and 
practical.  His  fluency  and  facility  of  language  give  him 
the  advantage  as  an  instructor  ;  for,  however  dry  and  un- 
inviting the  subject,  he  has  the  faculty  of  enchaining  the 
attention  of  the  student.  No  teacher  ever  knew  better 
how  to  enliven  and  instruct,  whether  by  wit  or  anecdote 
or  simile  or  bits  of  experience  drawn  from  his  own  re- 
sources. His  varied  intellectual  gifts  and  ease  of  expres- 
sion always  elicit  the  greatest  admiration. 

His  contributions  to  medical  literature  have  been  many 
and  varied.  In  all  he  has  been  a  medical  editor  for  thirty- 
five  years.  For  six  years  he  was  connected  with  the  North 
American  Journal  of  Homeopathy,  a  quarterly  published  in 
New  Ycrk,  and  for  nine  years  with  the  United  States  Medi- 
cal and  Surgical  Journal,  of  Chicago.  He  is  and  has  been 
editor  of  the  Clinique  for  seventeen  years.  In  1863  he 
issued  a  short  course  of  clinical  lectures  on  diphtheria, 
which  was  the  first  strictly  medical  book  ever  published  in 
the  Northwest.  His  great  work,  Clinical  and  Didactic 
Lectures  on  the  Diseases  of  Women,  now  in  its  sixth  edi- 
tion, was  translated  into  the  French  and  published  by 
Delahaye  in  Paris.  Dr.  Ludlam  also  translated  and  pub- 
lished in  1S80  a  work  on  clinical  medicine  from  the  French 
of  Jousset,  adding  thereto  many  original  and  valuable 
notes. 

Among  the  honors  conferred  upon  him  have  been  the 
Presidency  of  the  American  Institute  of  Homoeopathy, 
now  in  its  fifty-second  year  ;  of  the  Illinois  Homoeopathic 
Medical  Association ;  of  the  Western  Institute  of  Homoe- 
opathy ;  of  the  Chicago  Academy  of  Medicine  ;  and  of  the 
Clinical  Society  of  the  Hahnemann  Hospital.  In  addition 
to  these  honors,  Dr.  Ludlam  was  a  member  of  the  medical 


DR.  R.  LUDLAJll,  SR.  l0g 

department  of  the  Relief  and  Aid  Society,  which,  after 
the  great  fire  in  Chicago,  had  the  distribution  of  the  chari- 
ties and  the  care  of  sixty  thousand  people.  For  fifteen 
consecutive  years  he  was  a  member  of  the  Illinois  State 
Board  of  Health,  in  which  capacity  he  did  very  much  to 
assist  in  advancing  the  cause  of  a  higher  medical  educa- 
tion. His  term  of  office  expired  December  31,  1892. 
After  having,  except  for  a  brief  interval,  served  as  Dean  of 
its  Faculty  for  twenty-five  years,  he  now  holds  the  honored 
position  of  President  of  the  Hahnemann  Medical  College 
and  Hospital  of  Chicago. 

The  following  extracts  from  an  introductory  lecture  to 
his  course  on  surgical  gynaecology  for  the  session  of  1895- 
96  will  give  a  good  idea  of  Professor  Ludlam's  views  and 
method  of  teaching  : 

"As  usual,  I  propose  to  instruct  you  in  the  art  of  diag- 
nosis upon  the  living  subject.  It  is  a  delicate  and  difficult 
undertaking,  but  it  can  be  mastered  in  this  way  rather 
than  by  any  amount  of  theoretical  preaching  and  discus- 
sion. Of  late  years  the  differential  diagnosis  of  the  dis- 
eases of  women,  at  least  of  such  cases  as  will  concern  us 
in  this  clinic,  has  been  wonderfully  simplified  and  per- 
fected through  the  operations  that  have  been  made  in  sur- 
gical gynaecology.  The  peculiar  sexual  lesions  that  lie 
within  the  pelvic  and  abdominal  cavities  will  be  open  to 
your  inspection  as  they  never  were  to  any  mortal  until 
Dr.  McDowell,  of  Kentucky,  made  the  first  ovariotomy 
one  cold  morning  in  December,  1809. 

"  We  shall  avail  ourselves  of  all  that  has  been  discovered 
and  taught  in  special  uterine  and  ovarian  diagnosis  since 
that  time;  and  you  will  learn  that  not  only  are  these  dis- 
eases of  the  utmost  consequence  per  se,  but  that  in  their 
reflex  and  systemic  relations  they  are  more  interesting  and 
important  than  those  of  any  other  specialty. 

"The  true  conservatism  that  consists  in  doing  what  is 
best  for  a  given  case  hinges  upon  a  correct  diagnosis,  when- 


IIO  DR.  R.  LUDLAM,  SR. 

ever  it  is  possible  to  make  one.  And  in  proportion  as  the 
facilities  for  such  fore-knowledge  are  developed  and  ap- 
plied will  the  surgeon  become  more  and  more  conserva- 
tive, and  know  better  when  to  use  and  when  to  withhold 
the  knife. 

"  There  is  a  fascination  in  the  technique  of  gynaecologi- 
cal surgery,  with  all  its  neatness  and  newness,  that  is  seduc- 
tive and  dangerous.  It  will  appear  such  an  easy  thing  to 
make  an  ovariotomy,  or  to  perform  the  various  plastic 
operations  coming  within  the  scope  of  this  specialty,  that 
you  maybe  led  to  think  yourselves  fit  for  such  work  before 
you  are  fully  grounded  in  the  elements  of  pelvic  and  peri- 
toneal pathology  and  diagnosis.  As  the  art  student  is 
tempted  to  begin  to  paint  before  he  has  any  knowledge  of 
drawing,  so  the  medical  students  and  the  young  doctors 
of  our  day  are  tempted  to  paint  their  field  of  vision  with 
the  life-blood  of  their  victims  before  they  can  draw  a 
rational  inference  as  to  their  condition,  or  as  to  the  actual 
needs  of  a  case  in  hand.  The  result  is  that  there  is  too 
much  smiting  to  the  right  and  to  the  left,  in  the  persons 
of  the  poor  women  especially,  without  regard  to  ultimate 
consequences.  To  operate  first,  and  to  study  the  case 
afterward  (or  not  to  study  it  at  all),  is  like  hanging  a 
prisoner  first,  and  then  bringing  his  case  for  trial  by  jury. 
To  make  a  general  rule  that  because  a  woman  who  is  an 
invalid  still  has  the  uterus  and  its  appendages  therefore  she 
must  be  mutilated  by  the  surgeon,  is  an  outrage,  not  only 
upon  the  rights  of  her  sex,  but,  also,  upon  the  just  claims 
of  our  profession  to  scientific  probity  and  to  a  decent  re- 
gard for  the  principle  of  the  Golden  Rule." 


DR.   REUBEN  L  UDLAM,  JR.  Yll 

REUBEN  LUDL.\M,  Jr.,  M.D., 

CHICAGO,    ILL. 

Dr.  Reuben  Ludlam,  Jr.,  the  son  and  only  child  of  the 
distinguished  gynaecologist  whose  sketch  immediately  pre- 
cedes this,  was  born  in  Chicago,  Illinois,  May  18,  1866. 
His  educational  advantages  were  of  the  very  best,  and, 
having  early  evinced  a  taste  for  the  science  of  medicine, 
this  inclination  was  gratified  by  his  entrance  upon  the 
study  thereof  in  his  father's  office.  After  four  years' 
attendance  in  the  Hahnemann  Medical  College  and  Hos- 
pital of  Chicago,  with  superior  privileges  in  the  way  of 
general  and  dispensary  practice,  he  received  his  degree  in 
the  spring  of  1886.  Eighteen  months  were  then  spent' in 
the  hospitals  of  Paris  and  London,  in  the  former  of  which 
he  took  special  courses  in  operative  and  gynaecological 
surgery  under  several  of  it  most  renowned  teachers,  where 
he  also  attended  the  clinics  of  Pean,  Terrillon,  Tillaux, 
Terrier,  Porak,  Doleris,  Ricard,  and  others  most  assidu- 
ously. 

After  five  years  of  general  and  special  practice  at  home 
and  in  company  with  his  father,  he  again  went  to  Europe, 
where  he  spent  four  months  of  close  study  in  Berlin  and 
Paris,  devoting  himself  especially  to  the  subject  of  gynae- 
cology and  of  surgery  connected  therewith,  in  the  clinics 
of  Olshausen,  Gusserow,  von  Bergmann,  with  Schimmel- 
busch  (by  whom  he  was  taught  the  typical  asepsis)  and 
Martin  in  Berlin ;  and  those  of  Pean,  Pozzi,  Picque, 
Ricard,  Le  Dentu,  Lucas- Championniere,  Berger,  Segond, 
and  Apostoli  in  Paris. 

Seven  years  of  special  study,  experience,  and  prepara- 
tion at  home  and  abroad  fitted  him  for  the  post  of  chef  de 
c Unique  and  Lecturer  on  Gynaecological  Surgery  in  the 
Hahnemann  Medical  College   and  Hospital  of  Chicago, 


112 


DR.  DONALD  MACRAE. 


which  position  he  still  continues  to  hold  (1896).  In  this 
capacity  and  as  first  assistant  to  his  father  in  hospital  and 
private  practice  he  has  had  extraordinary  advantages  in 
peritoneal  surgery,  and  in  all  the  operations  pertaining  to 
modern  gynaecology.  He  has  also  performed  many  of 
these  operations  himself,  and  his  technique  is  as  perfect 
as  possible.  He  is  an  enthusiast  in  this  line  of  work,  and 
will  keep  the  family  name  at  the  high  mark  which  it  has 
already  attained. 

Dr.  Ludlam,  Jr.,  is  a  member  of  the  national  American 
Institute  of  Homoeopathy,  the  Illinois  State  Medical 
Association,  and  the  Clinical  Society  of  the  Hahnemann 
Hospital,  to  the  last  of  which  he  has  contributed  several 
valuable  original  papers,  translations,  etc. 


DONALD  MACRAE,  M.D., 

COUNCIL    BLUFFS,    IOWA. 

Donald  Macrae,  born  in  Poolewe,  Rosshire,  Scotland, 
October  3.  1839.  Eldest  son  of  the  Rev.  Donald  Macrae, 
of  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland.  Educated  by  private 
tutors.  He  entered  the  literary  course  at  Edinburgh  Uni- 
versity when  fifteen  years  of  age,  where  he  remained  for  two 
years,  then  studied  medicine  and  was  graduated  from  the 
University,  August,  1861.  With  few  exceptions  his  rela- 
tives belong  to  the  church.  His  mother  was  the  daughter 
of  a  Presbyterian  minister.  Two  brothers  are  ministers  ; 
one,  John,  is  pastor  of  the  Toorak  Presbyterian  Church, 
Melbourne,  Australia,  and  Duncan,  of  Woodgreen  Presby- 
terian Church,  London,  England.  Of  his  remaining 
brothers,  two  in  number,  one  is  a  business  man  in  London, 
the  other,  James,  a  prominent  farmer  near  Council  Bluffs ; 
his  only  two  sisters  who  reached  a  marriageable  age  have 
also  married  clergymen.  After  a  few  months  of  hospital 
service  under  Sir  James  Y.  Simpson  and  Prof.  Syme,  of 


/ty?7ta^^  /sfc 


^_^/-«te> 


DR.  DOXALD  MACRAE. 


113 


Edinburgh,  he  acted  as  assistant  to  a  physician  in  Scotland, 
and  then  joined  the  Cunard  service  in  capacity  of  surgeon. 
During  the  four  years  and  a  half  in  which  he  held  that 
position  he  crossed  the  Atlantic  seventy-five  times.  His 
last  trip  landed  him  as  a  passenger  in  New  York,  where  he 
was  united  in  marriage  to  Charlotte,  second  daughter  of 
Hon.  Joseph  Bouchette,  Surveyor- General  of  Canada,  who 
died  in  1 881,  at  the  age  of  eighty-six  years.  After  his 
marriage  on  March  4,  1867,  he  and  his  wife  made  a  short 
detour  through  Canada;  settling  in  Council  Bluffs,  where 
he  at  once  engaged  in  medical  work  and  soon  built  up  a 
successful  practice.  The  doctor  has  always  been  a  general 
practitioner,  but  he  has  controlled  a  large  clientele  for 
general  surgical  work.  He  began  to  do  abdominal  work 
among  the  first  in  his  State  and  the  adjacent  State  of 
Nebraska.  His  first  case  dates  back  sixteen  years.  Every 
year  increased  his  number  of  operations,  until  now  he  makes 
from  twenty  to  thirty  or  more  sections  each  year  with 
highly  successful  results. 

He  has  been  connected  with  the  Omaha  Medical  College 
in  various  chairs  almost  since  its  organization,  at  the  last 
filling  the  Chair  of  Practice ;  and  was  Dean  of  the  Facult.v 
for  several  years.  He  resigned  his  position  in  the  Omaha 
Medical  College  to  fill  the  Chair  of  Surgery  and  Clinical 
Surgery  in  the  Council  Bluffs  Medical  College.  This  in- 
stitution survived,  however,  only  two  years,  and  again  this 
year  the  Doctor  has  been  called  upon  to  occupy  the  posi- 
tion of  Professor  of  Railroad  and  Clinical  Surgery  in  the 
Omaha  College. 

In  1887-88  he  was  President  of  the  Medical  Society  of 
the  Sta'e  of  Iowa,  and  the  same  year  President  of  the 
Medical  Society  of  the  Missouri  Valley  as  well.  At  the 
meeting  of  the  International  Medical  Congress  held  in 
Washington,  D.  C,  he  was  one  of  the  Vice-Presidents  of 
the  Surgical  Section,  and  at  the  Pan-American  Medical 
Congress  he  was  selected  by  the  Governor  of  the  State  of 
vol.  11. — 8 


II4  DR.  DOXALD  MACRAE.  JR. 

Iowa  to  represent  the  State  at  the  meeting.  Dr.  and  Mrs. 
Macrae  are  the  parents  of  one  son,  Dr.  Donald  Macrae, 
Jr.,  who  is  associated  in  practice  with  his  father.  The 
Doctor  is  surgeon  to  the  St.  Bernard's  and  W.  C.  A.  Hos- 
pitals in  Council  Bluffs.  He  is  a  Mason.  Of  course,  a  Pres- 
byterian has  very  little  time  or  inclination  to  mingle  in 
politics,  but  he  served  a  term  as  member  of  the  School 
Board,  and  in  1890  was  elected  Mayor  of  Council  Bluffs 
on  the  Citizen's  Non-partisan  Ticket  by  an  immense 
majority. 


DOXALD    MACRAE,    Jr.,  M.D., 

COUNCIL   BLUFFS,    IOWA. 

Donald  Macrae,  Jr..  was  born  in  Council  Bluffs,  Iowa, 
January  24,  1S70.  He  was  educated  at  Lake  Forest 
Academy,  Illinois,  and  Morgan  Park  Military  Academy, 
Chicago,  also  attending  a  literary  course  of  one  year  in 
the  Iowa  State  University.  He  studied  medicine  at  the 
University  of  Michigan,  and  was  graduated  from  that  in- 
stitution in  June,  1S91. 

On  graduating  he  at  once  entered  into  practice  with  his 
father.  Obtaining  the  offices  of  County  Physician  and 
City  Police  Surgeon,  he  has  had  opportunities  of  doing 
abdominal  work  in  the  one,  and  much  emergency  surgery 
in  the  other.  He  is  Surgeon  to  the  C.  M.  &  St.  P.  Railway, 
and  is  Secretary  of  the  Iowa  State  Surgeons'  Association. 
He  is  President  of  the  Council  Bluffs  Medical  Society,  and 
Professor  of  Anatomy  in  the  Omaha  Medical  College. 

He  married,  November  19,  1891,  Mary  V.,  only 
daughter  of  H.  0.  Miller,  of  Omaha,  Nebraska,  and  is 
the  father  of  two  children — a  girl  and  a  boy. 


(H^t 


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«^C«t««*fc^€fck«rffc^6<£ 


DR.  FLORENCE  N.  SALTONSTALL.  ng 

FLORENCE  N.  SALTONSTALL,  M.D., 

SAN    FRANCISCO,   CAL. 

Florence  Nightingale  Saltonstall,  M.D.,  was  born 
in  San  Francisco,  Cal.,  July  10,  i860.  She  is  the  eldest 
daughter  of  J.  P.  and  Anna  J.  Ferguson,  who  came  from 
New  York  to  California  among  the  early  settlers. 

She  received  her  early  education  in  the  public  schools 
of  her  native  city,  being  graduated  from  the  High  School 
in  1878  and  from  the  Normal  School  in  1879.  She  soon 
after  began  the  study  of  medicine,  which  was  continued 
until  she  entered  the  Hahnemann  Hospital  College  of  San 
Francisco  in  1883,  from  which  she  was  graduated  with 
honors  in  1887.  Dr.  Saltonstall  then  went  to  New  York  for 
a  post-graduate  course  and  attended  the  Polyclinic  in  1887— 
88.  When  she  had  finished  her  studies  in  New  York  she  re- 
turned to  San  Francisco,  where  she  has  since  been  engaged 
in  active  practice.  On  her  return  from  New  York  she  was 
elected  assistant  to  the  Chair  of  Gynaecology  in  the  Hahne- 
mann Hospital  College  of  San  Francisco. 

In  January,  1890,  she,  with  Dr.  James  Lilienthal  and 
Dr.  James  W.  Ward,  founded  the  Southern  Homoeopathic 
Dispensary  of  San  Francisco,  which  has  been  in  most  suc- 
cessful operation  ever  since.  Dr.  Saltonstall  has  uninter- 
ruptedly carried  on  a  large  clinic  for  the  diseases  of  women 
at  this  dispensary.  In  the  spring  of  1891  she  was  elected 
Gynaecologist  at  Fabiola  Hospital,  Oakland,  Cal.,  which 
position  she  still  holds. 

In  1892  Dr.  Saltonstall  was  elected  Associate  Professor 
of  Clinical  Diseases  of  Women  in  the  Hahnemann  Hos- 
pital College  of  San  Francisco.  This  chair  Dr.  Saltonstall 
held  for  two  years,  which  she  has  just  resigned  owing  to 
the  heavy  pressure  of  private  work  and  other  professional 
duties.     In  June,  1893,  she  retired  from  the  practice  of 


U6  DR.  DEWITT  G.    WILCOX. 

general  medicine  and  devoted  herself  exclusively  to  gynae- 
cology. 

In  the  fall  of  1893  she  went  abroad  for  the  study  of 
surgical  methods  among  the  best  operators.  She  studied 
under  Okhousen,  Landau,  and  Martin,  of  Berlin;  Sanger 
and  Zweifel,  of  Leipsic;  Leopold,  of  Dresden;  and  the 
best  workers  in  gynaeocology  in  Vienna  and  Paris. 

In  May,  1894,  she  presented  to  the  California  Homoeo- 
pathic Medical  Society,  at  the  annual  meeting,  her  paper 
of  "Sixteen  Successive  Cases  of  Vaginal  Hysterectomy 
without  a  Death." 

Her  record  in  private  and  sanitarium  work  for  the  past 
year  has  been  fifteen  capital  cases  without  a  death,  and  in 
hospital  work  twenty-nine  capital  cases,  including  ccelioto- 
mies  and  vaginal  hysterectomies,  with  but  two  deaths, 
both  very  desperate  cases.  The  minor  work  has  given 
uniformly  perfect  results. 

Dr.  Saltonstall  attributes  her  success  in  her  plastic  work, 
as  well  as  in  capital  cases,  to  the  careful  technique  and  the 
most  perfect  asepsis  that  is  maintained  throughout  the 
operation  and  in  the  after-care. 


DeVvTTT  G.  WILCOX,  M.D., 

BUFFALO,   N.  V. 

DeWitt  G.  Wilcox  was  born  in  Akron,  Ohio,  January 
15,  1858.  His  father,  David  G.  Wilcox,  was  descended 
from  John  Wilcox,  one  of  the  original  proprietors  of  Hart- 
ford, Conn.,  who  came  over  from  England  with  the  Rev. 
Thomas  Hooker's  company  in  1645. 

Dr.  Wilcox  spent  his  early  days  in  the  schools  of  his 
native  town.  His  spare  moments  and  vacations  were 
passed  in  his  father's  planing  mills,  where  his  fondness  for 
mechanics  had  full  play.    He  wa  ;  graduated  from  the  Akron 


^n?ux^f.^Ay^ 


DR.   DE  WITT  G.    WILCOX. 


117 


High  School  at  eighteen  years  of  age,  and  immediately 
entered  Buchtell  College  for  an  elective  course  of  study 
that  should  best  prepare  him  for  his  chosen  profession,  for 
while  yet  a  boy  he  had  determined  to  be  a  surgeon,  and 
all  his  plans  were  formulated  with  that  end  in  view.  He 
began  his  studies  in  the  office  of  Dr.  William  Murdoch,  of 
Akron,  soon,  however,  going  to  Cleveland,  to  become  a 
student  of  that  well-known  surgeon  Dr.  Nathaniel  Schnei- 
der, who  has  but  recently  passed  to  his  reward. 

He  was  graduated  from  the  Cleveland  Homoeopathic 
Hospital  College  in  18S0,  and  returned  to  Akron,  where  he 
practised  two  years.  He  then  went  to  London,  England, 
to  take  special  instruction  in  surgery  and  surgical  path- 
ology. The  last  six  months  of  his  stay  in  Europe  were 
spent  in  the  London  Temperance  Hospital,  where  he  re- 
ceived the  appointment  of  resident  house  surgeon.  His 
opportunities  there  for  surgical  experience  were  of  great 
value  to  him. 

He  married  Jennie  Irene  Green,  of  Alfred  Centre,  N.  Y., 
whose  paternal  ancestors  were  the  first  settlers  in  Rhode 
Island,  and  descended  from  that  long  and  honorable  line 
of  Greens,  without  whom  the  history  of  Rhode  Island 
would  be  incomplete.  Four  children  have  been  born  to 
them. 

In  1887  certain  of  the  leading  physicians  of  Buffalo, 
N.  Y.,  felt  the  urgent  need  of  an  able  surgeon  of  the 
homoeopathic  school  in  their  midst,  and  Dr.  Wilcox  was 
induced  by  them  to  locate  in  that  city.  He  was  thus 
enabled  to  begin  work  at  once,  and  built  up  a  surgical 
practice  quite  rapidly.  He  was  appointed  surgeon  to  the 
Homoeopathic  Hospital,  and  two  years  later  opened  a 
private  hospital  of  his  own,  which  was  the  first  of  the  kind 
in  Buffalo.  When  the  Erie  County  Hospital  was  estab- 
lished Dr.  Wilcox  was  one  of  the  original  staff  members, 
being  appointed  by  the  supervisors  as  visiting  surgeon. 

His  private  hospital  has  developed  into  a  general  hos- 


n8  DR.  HOWARD  A.  KELLY. 

pital  owned  by  a  number  of  physicians,  and  held  by  them 
exclusively  for  the  better  class  of  their  private  patients  who 
desire  the  very  best  hospital  facilities.  With  Dr.  Wilcox 
at  the  head  of  the  institution  its  success  is  assured. 

As  an  operator  Dr.  Wilcox  is  at  all  times  perfectly  self- 
controlled,  never  losing  his  presence  of  mind.  During  an 
operation  he  speaks  quietly  but  briefly  to  his  assistants, 
and  his  voice  betrays  even  at  the  most  critical  moments  no 
evidence  of  excitement  or  irritability.  His  nurses  and 
assistants  are  invariably  devoted  to  him  because  of  the 
high  respect  they  feel  and  because  of  his  kindness  of  heart. 

He  performed  his  first  ovariotomy  when  twenty-eight 
years  of  age.  He  was  the  first  of  American  surgeons  to 
•perform  nephorrhaphy,  which  is  recorded  in  the  Annals  of 
Surgery,  March,  1888. 

After  fifteen  years  of  general  practice  and  surgery  he 
has  recently  relinquished  the  former  in  order  to  devote 
himself  unreservedly  to  surgery  and  gynaecology. 


HOWARD  A.  KELLY,  M.D., 

BALTIMORE,  MD. 

Dr.  Howard  Atwood  Kelly,  Professor  of  Gynaecology 
and  Obstetrics  in  the  Johns  Hopkins  University ;  Gynae- 
cologist and  Obstetrician  to  the  Johns  Hopkins  Hospital, 
Baltimore,  Md. 

I  was  born  February  20,  1858,  at  Camden,  N.  J.,  the 
son  of  Henry  Kuhl  Kelly  and  Louisa  Warner  Hard.  My 
father's  paternal  great-grandfather,  Thomas  Kelly,  was  a 
linen  merchant  of  Portadown,  County  Armagh,  Ireland ; 
his  maternal  great-grandfather  was  Michael  Hillegas,  first 
Treasurer  of  the  United  States.  My  mother  is  the  grand- 
daughter of  Captain  John  Warner,  of  Wilmington,  active 
in  the  War  of  181 2,  and  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Anson  B. 
Hard,  rector  of  St.  Paul's  Church,  Chester,  Pa. 


CL.A^ 


DR.   HOWARD  A.  KELLY. 


II9 


When  I  was  about  four  years  old  my  family  removed  to 
South  Tenth  Street,  Philadelphia,  and  during  the  Civil 
War  to  Chester,  Delaware  County,  Pa.  Upon  my  father's 
return  from  the  war  we  moved  out  near  Fairmount  Park, 
a  neighborhood  which  encouraged  a  strong  bent  for  natural 
history.  A  short  residence  at  Sandy  Hill,  near  Norristown, 
Pa.,  in  the  summer  of  1867,  greatly  strengthened  these 
tastes,  and  I  well  remember  a  certain  hot-bed  at  Sandy  Hill 
where  I  loved  to  lie  reading  a  book,  under  a  glass  cover, 
and  surrounded  by  a  collection  of  fifty-two  tortoises.  An 
unpleasant  experience  in  acquiring  the  collection  only 
increased  its  value  to  me.  I  found  a  large  number  of  tor- 
toises one  day  in  Lucas's  woods,  a  treasure  far  too  precious 
to  be  left  behind,  so  I  tied  my  trousers  at  the  ankles  and 
stuffed  my  clothes  full  of  tortoises  and  waddled  home  as 
best  I  could.  Unfortunately  the  tortoises  had  been  creep- 
ing over  the  poison  ivy  in  the  woods,  and  I  shortly  devel- 
oped a  lively  case  of  general  rhus  toxicodendron  poisoning- 
But  my  ardor  for  collecting  specimens  was  not  in  the  least 
abated  by  this  mishap,  and  butterflies  and  beetles  next 
engaged  my  attention. 

I  owed  much,  a  few  years  later,  to  the  Academy  of 
Natural  Sciences  of  Philadelphia,  and  especially  to  Prof. 
E.  D.  Cope  for  his  kind  encouragement  in  every  way  in 
prosecuting  a  favorite  study  of  reptiles. 

I  spent  six  years  in  the  school  of  Dr.  Faires,  on  Dean 
Street,  Philadelphia,  where  I  was  so  well  grounded  that, 
upon  entering  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  in  the 
autumn  of  1873,  I  took  the  Matriculate  Latin  Prize  for 
passing  the  best  entrance  examination  in  that  language. 
As  my  class  left  Dr.  Faires's  hands  to  go  to  the  University 
the  Doctor  handed  a  slip  of  paper  to  my  classmate,  Mr. 
Bunford  Samuel,  now  of  the  Ridgway  Library,  in  Phila- 
delphia, to  be  opened  in  one  year,  stating  that  he  had 
written  on  it  the  name  of  the  man  who  was  to  take  the  first 
honors  of  the  freshman  year,  if  it  fell  to  his  school.     A 


I2o  DR.  HOWARD  A.    KELLY. 

year  later,  when  the  Doctor's  prediction  was  fulfilled,  I 
learned  to  my  surprise  that  my  name  was  the  one  that 
had  been  written  on  the  slip,  but  my  pride  was  hurt  by 
the  reason  the  Doctor  gave  for  choosing  me  out,  that  I 
was  a  faithful  student  and  was  quite  orderly. 

I  was  graduated  in  1877  from  the  University  of  Penn- 
sylvania, and  took  up  the  study  of  medicine  as  the  nearest 
approach  to  purely  scientific  studies.  My  great  desire 
during  boyhood  had  been  to  be  a  naturalist,  but  I  realized 
that  I  lacked  some  of  the  necessary  qualifications  of  a  suc- 
cessful naturalist.  My  class  at  the  medical  school  was  the 
first  to  be  graduated  under  the  compulsory  three-years' 
term,  but  just  before  the  very  end  of  the  third  year  I  was 
obliged  to  give  up  all  work  and  go  west  for  twelve  months 
to  get  rid  of  a  persistent  insomnia,  brought  on  by  over- 
work. I  was  trying  at  the  same  time  to  graduate  well  in 
medicine,  to  carry  on  studies  in  comparative  anatomy,  to 
coach  some  of  the  delinquents  of  the  class  for  the  approach- 
ing examinations,  and  to  read  Hebrew,  Spanish,  Italian, 
and  French,  for  fun. 

I  spent  the  year  1880-81  in  Colorado,  joining  there  my 
college  chum,  Edward  P.  Anderson,  who  was  living  at 
Colorado  Springs  for  his  health.  I  went  west  with  the 
determination  to  earn  my  own  living  while  there,  and  to 
get  the  maximum  amount  of  health  and  strength  out  of 
the  life,  by  doing  any  kind  of  hard  manual  work  that  pre- 
sented itself.  I  found  a  place  on  Stark's  ranch,  at  O.  Z., 
in  El  Paso  County,  forty-five  miles  northeast  of  Colorado 
Springs,  and  succeeded  in  both  my  objects;  buying  and 
selling  ponies,  and  living  the  life  of  a  cowboy,  I  supported 
myself,  and  was  completely  restored  to  health.  At  the 
end  of  a  year,  in  February,  I  returned  to  the  University 
and  spent  another  year  in  the  medical  school,  when  I  was 
graduated,  after  passing  some  pretty  bad  examinations. 

The  year  after  graduating,  1882-83,  I  spent  in  the  Epis- 
copal Hospital,  Philadelphia,  where  the  large  and  varied 


DR.  HOWARD   A.  KELLY. 


121 


dispensary  service  proved  an  invaluable  means  of  quick- 
ening an  interest  in  scientific  medicine. 

I  had  already  had  some  practice  in  the  post-graduate 
department  of  the  University  Dispensary,  and  set  out  by 
paying  considerable  attention  to  diseases  of  the  eye,  ac- 
quiring also  a  fair  experience  in  the  treatment  of  skin 
diseases.  But  from  the  first  gynaecological  cases  attracted 
my  especial  interest,  and  by  degrees  in  the  course  of  the 
next  four  years  this  line  of  practice  absorbed  my  whole 
time  and  thought.  I  was  especially  aided  in  my  work  at 
the  Episcopal  Hospital  by  the  deep  personal  and  generous 
interest  of  Dr.  A.  K.  Minich,  my  dispensary  chief,  and  in 
the  hospital  wards  Drs.  Louis  Starr  and  Morris  Lewis 
both  stimulated  me  by  their  genuine  interest  in  scientific 
medicine. 

There  were  some  shrewd,  clever  men  on  the  staff  of 
residents  in  my  day,  and  the  pleasant  rivalry  that  existed 
among  us  not  only  stirred  us  up  intellectually,  but  helped 
to  enliven  the  monotony  of  hospital  life.  It  was  the 
custom,  when  one  of  the  residents  went  out  for  his  after- 
noon off  duty,  for  his  alternate  to  take  charge  of  his  wards 
during  that  time  and  to  make  the  evening  rounds  for  him. 
The  chief  business  of  the  alternate  during  this  time,  if  he 
happened  to  be  a  surgical  resident,  was  to  catch  an  im- 
portant emergency  operation  and  to  get  through  with  it 
before  the  resident  returned,  when  he  would  be  naturally 
disgusted  at  losing  the  operation  and  at  having  to  nurse 
another  man's  work.  On  the  other  hand,  the  medical 
resident  delighted  to  discover  some  new  symptom  or  com- 
plication which  had  not  been  noticed  by  his  associate  in 
regular  charge  of  the  ward.  I  remember  very  well  a  par- 
ticular interchange  of  courtesies  of  this  sort.  Upon  my 
return  on  one  occasion  Dr.  Edward  Mcllvain,  a  shrewd 
diagnostician,  led  me  up  to  one  of  my  typhoid  fever 
patients,  and,  straightening  himself  up,  with  a  triumphant 
air  and  significant  smile  he  tapped  on  the  patient's  chest, 


I22  DR.  HOWARD  A.  KELLY. 

and  told  me  to  put  my  ear  there.  He  had  discovered  a 
pleuritic  complication  which  I  did  not  know  existed.  I 
took  my  revenge  on  another  resident  by  demonstrating  the 
true  nature  of  the  disease  in  the  case  of  a  man  who  had 
been  suffering  intense  pain  in  his  right  knee,  which  had 
been  persistently  treated  and  wrapped  up  for  some  days  in 
lead-water  and  laudanum.  I  passed  a  metal  catheter  into 
the  bladder,  and  by  pressure  against  the  posterior  right 
pelvis  got  a  distinct  thrill  and  bruit,  which  could  be  felt 
and  heard  through  the  catheter,  showing  that  it  was  a  case 
of  aneurism  of  the  iliac  artery ;  the  patient  subsequently 
died  in  the  ward,  and  the  post-mortem  examination  proved 
the  correctness  of  my  diagnosis. 

When  my  term  of  service  in  the  Episcopal  Hospital  was 
over  I  determined  to  open  an  office  near  the  hospital,  in 
order  to  hold  on  to  the  practice  among  the  poor  of  Ken- 
sington which  I  felt  sure  I  should  be  able  to  build  up.  I 
rented  a  little  front  room  at  Mrs.  Summerville's,  2316 
North  Front  Street.  Mrs.  Summerville  was  a  plain,  good- 
natured  little  Scotchwoman,  with  a  drunken  pensioner  for 
a  husband,  and  two  sons  working  in  the  Kensington  mills. 
The  house  was  only  two  stories  high,  and  I  had  a  Hover's 
sofa-bed  in  the  front  room,  where  I  saw  the  patients,  and 
ate  my  meals  in  the  back  room,  often  with  six  or  eight 
patients  sitting  around  waiting  until  I  got  through  and 
watching  every  mouthful  I  took.  The  sofa-bed,  where  the 
patients  sat  by  day  and  where  I  slept  at  night,  was  so  near 
the  window  that  any  night-caller  in  a  hurry  could  rouse 
me  by  simply  throwing  up  the  lower  sash  and  catching  me 
by  the  foot.  Patients  were  abundant,  and  in  three  years' 
time  I  had  gained  a  large  experience  in  the  practice  of 
general  medicine  and  surgery. 

At  the  end  of  a  year  I  moved  from  Mrs.  Summerville's 
around  the  corner  to  No.  123  East  Cumberland  Street, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  as  gynaecological  cases  were  multi- 
plying on  my  hands,  I  started  a  little  private  hospital  on 


DR.  HOWARD  A.  KELLY.  I2, 

C  Street,  taking  two  upper  rooms  in  a  small  two-story 
house.  The  patients  were  looked  after  by  Mrs.  Wood,  an 
unusually  bright  Englishwoman  who  had  herself  been  one 
of  my  patients.  The  hospital  attracted  friends  from  the 
start  and  grew  so  rapidly  that  I  soon  had  to  take  a  three- 
story  house  on  Cumberland  Street,  and  some  time  after- 
ward a  still  larger  house  at  No.  124  East  Diamond  Street, 
on  Norris  Square.  Here  it  was  incorporated  and  put  on  a 
good  business  basis  through  the  kind  interest  of  Mr.  Wil- 
liam P.  Ellison,  who  from  that  time  on  has  been  the  main- 
stay of  the  Kensington  Hospital  for  Women,  as  it  was  named 
in  the  Act  of  incorporation.  Upon  leaving  Philadelphia  I 
transferred  the  Kensington  Hospital  to  my  friend  Dr. 
Charles  P.  Noble,  under  whose  able  management  it  has 
more  than  doubled  its  capacity,  and  moved  into  a  fine, 
comfortable  building  with  every  convenience  for  the  best 
modern  surgical  work. 

My  first  ovariotomy  was  performed  on  May  28,  1884, 
and  on  June  7,  1884,  I  removed  a  large  ovarian  tumor 
weighing  one  hundred  and  sixteen  pounds.  The  physi- 
cians who  were  present  at  this  operation  were  Drs.  A.  K. 
Minich,  George  Boyd,  Joseph  Price,  T.  S.  K.  Morton,  Jr., 
B.  A.  Randall,  West  McCaskey,  and  W.  N.  Ferguson. 
The  patient,  who  had  long  been  a-  familiar  sight  in  the 
neighborhood,  made  a  complete  recovery  and  is  still 
living  in  good  health. 

What  measure  of  success  I  have  obtained  in  my  work  I 
owe  to  four  things  : 

First,  the  fact  that,  neglecting  the  time-honored  custom 
in  Philadelphia  of  sitting  down  in  my  father's  house,  help- 
ing the  older  doctors  and  waiting  to  grow  gray  before 
getting  into  independent  practice,  I  abandoned  all  down- 
town connections  and  gave  myself  up  entirely  to  work 
among  the  poor;  they  were  immediately  responsive  and 
always  appreciative  and  brought  me  within  a  short  time  a 
large  experience. 


124  DK-  HOWARD  A.  KELLY. 

In  the  second  place,  I  worked  hard  and  persistently. 
Nothing  in  all  the  world  has  ever  been  so  deeply  inter- 
esting to  me  as  the  study  of  medicine,  and  not  the  smallest 
attraction  in  the  work  have  been  the  many  pleasant  personal 
relations  and  warm  friendships  I  have  made. 

In  the  third  place,  just  as  soon  as  I  found  I  was  being 
crowded  with  too  much  work,  I  at  once  secured  the  best 
assistant  I  could  possibly  find  and  divided  the  work,  so 
that  what  was  done  could  be  done  well.  My  first  assistant 
was  Dr.  Hunter  Robb,  who  joined  me  upon  his  leaving 
the  Episcopal  Hospital,  and  went  with  me  to  Baltimore  to 
become  first  gynaecological  resident  in  the  Johns  Hopkins 
Hospital.  He  remained  with  me  until  the  fall  of  1894, 
when  he  accepted  the  professorship  of  gynaecology  in  the 
Western  Reserve  University,  at  Cleveland,  Ohio.  Dr. 
Joseph  Hoffman,  my  next  assistant  in  Philadelphia,  re- 
mains in  active  private  practice  in  Kensington. 

And,  fourth,  I  did  not  hesitate  to  drop  my  work  for 
several  months  every  year  to  go  to  Europe  to  see  the  work 
of  others.  This  gave  me  rest  and  proved  a  quickening 
influence  on  my  studies,  besides  starting  some  of  the  most 
valued  friendships  of  my  life.  It  has  enabled  me  also  to 
form  an  intelligent  judgment  as  to  the  relative  position  of 
American  and  foreign  surgical  work. 

I  owe  a  great  deal  personally  to  my  dear  friend  Dr. 
Robert  P.  Harris,  of  Philadelphia.  I  called  on  Dr.  Harris 
one  day,  in  1884,  to  ask  him  about  some  matter  in  pel- 
vimetry, and  from  that  time  on  Dr.  Harris  has  been  my 
staunch  friend.  As  long  as  I  lived  in  Philadelphia  he  was 
a  regular  visitor  at  our  house  in  Kensington,  where  Dr. 
Robb  and  I  both  looked  forward  to  his  visits  with  the  utmost 
pleasure.  His  cheery  manner  was  delightful.  Coming  to 
see  us,  as  soon  as  the  front  door  was  opened  he  would 
call  out  from  the  foot  of  the  stairs,  in  a  high-pitched 
crescendo  voice,  "Is  Dr.  Kelly  in?"  If  he  got  an  affirm- 
ative answer,  he  would  come  upstairs  with  a  little  grunt  of 


DR.  HOWARD  A.  KELLY, 


125 


satisfaction,  and  nearly  always  deposit  on  the  table  either 
a  melon  or  some  peaches  or  pears  or  other  fruit,  in  which 
he  had  a  special  scientific  interest.  Then  we  would  all 
discuss  the  fruit,  3and  the  latest  news  of  Caesarean  section 
or  ectopic  pregnancy,  subjects  in  which  Dr.  Harris  has 
always  taken  a  deep  interest. 

During  the  year  1888-89,  I  held  the  chair  of  Obstetrics 
at  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  dividing  the  professor- 
ship with  Dr.  Barton  C.  Hirst.  I  then  received  a  call  to 
the  Johns  Hopkins  University  and  Hospital,  to  become 
Professor  of  G)  naecol«gy  and  Obstetrics.  The  new  field 
with  its  large  material,  the  advantages  and  conveniences 
offered  by  the  Hospital  with  its  endowment,  and  the  cen- 
tral position  of  Baltimore,  all  made  the  offer  an  irresistible 
one,  and  I  removed  to  Baltimore  in  the  fall  of  1889,  to 
organize  the  Gynaecological  Department  of  the  Johns 
Hopkins  Hospital.  The  post  has  proved  one  of  inex- 
haustible resources  for  an  enthusiastic  gynaecologist,  and 
the  Hospital  already  enjoys  the  confidence  of  all  the 
Southern  States  and  of  many  of  those  in  the  West.  This 
is  largely  due  to  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Hospital, 
who,  animated  with  the  same  spirit  as  the  Board  of  Trustees 
of  the  University,  have  left  the  management  of  the  various 
departments  largely  in  the  hands  of  the  chiefs,  trusting  to 
their  personal  interest  and  pride  in  their  work  for  the  de- 
velopment of  the  Hospital  in  accord  with  modern  scien- 
tific medicine.  More  than  this  no  gynaecologist  could 
ask. 


I26  DR-   CHARLES  P.  NOBLE. 

CHARLES  P.  NOBLE,  M.D., 

PHILADELPHIA,   PA. 

Dr.  Charles  Percy  Noble  was  born  in  Federalsburgh, 
Maryland,  November  15,  in  the  year  1863.  He  is  the 
third  son  of  the  late  Dr.  "William  D.  and  Mary  A.  (Houston) 
Noble.  Dr.  Noble's  family  is  distinctively  American, 
having  been  residents  of  Maryland  and  Delaware  since 
shortly  after  their  settlement.  Dr.  Noble  attended  the 
schools  of  his  native  town  until  1S80,  when  upon  the 
death  of  his  father  he  removed  for  two  years  to  Iowa, 
.during  which  time  his  studies  were  continued  in  the  Iowa 
Agricultural  College.  He  was  graduated  in  medicine  at  the 
University  of  Maryland  in  1884,  receiving  the  highest 
prize,  the  University  gold  medal,  given  to  the  student 
passing  the  best  general  examination,  and  also  the  prize 
in  obstetrics.  la  the  summer  of  1884  he  began  the  prac- 
tice of  medicine  in  Philadelphia. 

Dr.  Noble  was  married  to  Miss  Mira  E.  Rose,  of  Stan- 
hope, New  Jersey,  September  15,  1885.  They  have  three 
children,  two  sons  and  a  daughter.  For  five  years  he  did 
a  general  family  practice,  during  that  time,  however, 
being  connected  with  the  Philadelphia  Lying-in  Charity 
as  one  of  the  assistant  physicians  and  having  charge  of 
its  out-patient  service  for  diseases  of  women.  During  this 
time  he  also  did  editorial  work  in  the  departments  of 
obstetrics  and  diseases  of  women  for  the  Medical  and  Sur- 
gical .Reporter,  then  under  the  editorial  management  of 
Dr.  Charles  W.  Dulles.  In  1889,  upon  the  resignation  of 
Dr.  Howard  A.  Kelly  as  Surgeon-in-Chief  of  the  Ken- 
sington Hospital  for  Women,  Dr.  Noble  was  appointed  to 
succeed  him. 

The  steady  growth  of  the  Kensington  Hospital  for 
Women  has  been  due  in  no  small  measure  to  the  interest 


fa.0. 


DR.    CHARLES  P.  NOBLE. 


127 


taken  in  its  welfare  by  its  surgeon-in-chief,  and  to  the 
large  amount  of  his  time  which  has  been  devoted  to  its 
management.  This  institution,  which  was  founded  and 
made  famous  by  Dr.  Kelly,  has  maintained  its  reputation 
and  increased  its  usefulness  under  the  present  management. 
Dr.  Noble  is  also  gynaecologist  to  the  Union  Mission  Hos- 
pital, and  is  surgeon-in-charge  of  the  department  for  the 
diseases  of  women  of  the  Northern  Dispensary.  He  is  a 
Fellow  of  the  American  Gynaecological  Society,  and  of 
the  College  of  Physicians,  the  Obstetrical  Society,  etc., 
of  Philadelphia. 

Dr.  Noble  entered  into  the  field  of  his  special  work 
soon  after  the  new  era  of  gynaecology  set  in,  and  has 
always  been  an  advocate  of  the  advanced  methods.  His 
interest  in  the  subject,  however,  has  not  been  confined 
simply  to  abdominal  surgery,  which  of  late  has  assumed 
such  a  conspicuous  place  in  gynaecology  as  to  overshadow 
the  plastic  work  and  important  therapeutic  measures,  but 
he  has  recorded  some  of  his  most  gratifying  successes  in 
the  latter  field.  Notable  among  his  operations  have  been 
the  Caesarean  sections,  two  in  number,  one  of  which  was 
done  upon  the  second  woman  who  had  recovered  from  the 
classical  Caesarean  section  in  Philadelphia ;  and,  curiously, 
both  this  woman  and  the  first  one  each  recovered  from 
two  Caesarean  sections.  Dr.  Noble  was  the  first  surgeon  in 
the  world  deliberately  to  elect  symphyseotomy  at  term 
over  the  induction  of  premature  labor  as  a  method  of  de- 
livery in  contracted  pelvis.  As  an  operator  his  technique 
is  simple,  his  movements  deliberate,  and  his  attention  to 
detail  scrupulous,  laying  more  stress  upon  doing  an  opera- 
tion carefully  and  well  than  upon  doing  it  quickly.  His 
results  compare  favorably  with  those  of  the  best  operators 
of  the  day. 

The  following  are  Dr.  Noble's  contributions  to  medical 
literature : 


I28  DR-   CHARLES  P.   NOBLE. 

" Antiseptic  Midwifery  as  Practised  in  the  Philadelphia 
Lying-in  Charity."  Med.  and  Surg.  Reporter,  Phila., 
1888,  lviii.  397. 

"  Treatment  of  Placenta  Previa ;  a  Historical  and  Criti- 
cal Sketch."  Med.  and  Surg.  Reporter,  Phila.,  1888,  lviii. 
625-631. 

"Treatment  of  Mammary  Abscess."     Med.  and  Surg. 
Reporter,  Phila.,  1888,  lviii.  475. 
.  "  Treatment    of    Puerperal    Septiccemia."-    Med.    and 
Surg.  Reporter,  Phila.,  1888,  lviii.  604. 

"Hygiene  of  the  Breasts;  Treatment  of  Puerperal 
Nipple  Lesions  and  Mammary  Engorgements."  Med.  and 
Surg.  Reporter,  Phila.,  1888,  lviii.  810. 

"Three  Cases  of  Partial  Retention  of  the  Placenta 
after  Labor  at  Term."  Med.  and  Surg.  Reporter,  Phila., 
1888,  lix.  233-235. 

"  Treatmeut  of  Post-partum  Hemorrhage."  Med.  and 
Surg.  Reporter,  Phila.,  1888,  lix.  49. 

"Value  of  External  Examination  in  Obstetric  Prac- 
tice."    Med.  and  Surg.  Reporter,  Phila.,  1888,  lix.  488. 

"A  New  Method  of  Diagnosis  in  Obscure  Cases  of 
Entero-vesical  Fistula;  Senn's  Hydrogen  Gas  Test." 
Med.  and  Surg.  Reporter,  Phila.,  1889,  lx.  77. 

"  Technique  of  Abdominal  Palpation."  Med.  and  Surg. 
Reporter,  Phila.,  1889,  lx.  168-172. 

"Remarks  on  the  Use  of  the  Obstetric  Forceps." 
Med.  and  Surg.  Reporter,  Phila.,  1889,  lx.  535-540. 

"Retention  of  Fragments  of  Placenta  Within  the 
Uterus  after  Labor."  Obst.  Gaz.,  Cincin.,  1889,  xii. 
297-301.     Ann.  Gyncec,  Boston,  1888-89,  ii-  463-467. 

"Extra-uterine  Pregnancy."  Med.  and  Surg.  Re- 
porter, Phila.,  1889,  lxi-  537-539- 

"Report  of  a  Case  of  Abdominal  Section;  Acute Pyo- 
salpinx  and  Abscess  of  the  Ovary  Following  Abortion." 
Me 'd.  and  Surg.  Reporter,  Phila.,  1890,  lxii.  164-166. 

"  Induced  Premature  Labor  ;  Delivery  with  High  For- 


DR.  CHARLES  P.  NOBLE.  I2g 

ceps ;  Conjugate  Diameter,  eight  centimetres."  Obst. 
Gaz.,  Cincin.,  1890,  xiii.  59-63. 

"Prolonged  Labor,  with  Craniotomy."  Obst.  Gaz. 
Cincin.,  1890,  xiii.  57-59. 

"Unique  Cesarean  Section."  Med.  and  Surg.  Re- 
porter, Phila.,  1890,  lxii.  561  Trans.  Coll.  Phys.,  Phila., 
1891,  3  s.,  xii.  118-121. 

"Inflammation  of  the  Uterine  Appendages."  Med. 
and  Surg.  Reporter,  Phila.,  1890,  Ixiii.  31-33. 

"Peroxide  of  Hydrogen."  Med.  and  Surg.  Reporter, 
Phila.,  1890,  lxii.  545. 

"  Gonorrhoeal  Salpingitis  in  its  Surgical  Aspects. ' '  Med. 
and  Surg.  Reporter,  Phila.,  1890,  lxii.  601-606. 

"Primary  Perineorrhaphy."  Med.  Age,  Detroit,  1890, 
viii.  457-460. 

"The  Control  of  Hemorrhage  Deep  in  the  Pelvis, 
with  the  Report  of  a  Case  of  Ovariotomy."  Med.  News, 
Phila.,  1890,  lvii.  449. 

"  A  Case  of  Intraligamentary  Cyst  of  the  Left  Ovary ; 
Enucleation;  Recovery."  Med.  News,  Phila.,  1890, 
lvii.  689. 

"The  Peroxide  of  Hydrogen;  its  Uses  in  Abdominal 
Surgery."     Med.  News,  Phila.,  1891,  lviii.   402. 

"  Pyosalpinxin  Relation  to  Sterility  in  Women."  Med. 
Age,  Detroit,  1891,  297-301. 

"  Minor  Uterine  Surgery."  Ann.  Gvncec.and  Pcediat., 
Phila  ,  1890-91,  lv.  223-233. 

"The  After-treatment  of  Cases  of  Abdominal  Sec- 
tion." Med.  and  Surg.  Reporter,  Phila.,  1891,  lxiv.  773— 
776;  Jour?i.  Amer.  Med.  Ass'n,  1891,  73-76. 

"Peroxide  of  Hydrogen  for  Cleaning  the  Hands." 
Med.  a?id  Surg.  Reporter,  Phila.,  1891,  lxv.  237. 

"  Ten  Cases  of  Abdominal  Section."  Ann.  Gyncec. 
and  Pcediat.,  Phila.,  1891,  iii.  346. 

"  The  Dangers  of  Leaving  the  Products  of  Inflamma- 

VOL.  II. — 9 


130 


DR.   CHARLES  P.  NOBLE. 


tion  in  the  Female  Pelvis."  Ann.  Gyncec.  and  Pcediat., 
Phila.,  1890-91,  iv.  630-633. 

"Abdominal  Surgery  at  the  Kensington  Hospital  for 
Women."     Med.  Age,  Detroit,  1891,  ix.  321-327. 

"Four  Cases  of  True  Pelvic  Abscess."  Med.  News, 
Phila.,  1891,  lix.  237. 

"  Salpingitis  in  its  Relation  to  Pregnancy  and  the  Puer- 
peral State."    Trans.  Amer.  Gyncec.  Society,  1891,  xvi.  480. 

"  Remarks  on  the  Diagnosis  of  the  Diseases  of  Women." 
Trans.  D.  Hayes  Agnew  Surg.  Society,  1891  ;  American 
Lancet,  1891,  xv.  81. 

"Pelvic  Inflammation  in  Women."     American  Lancet, 

1891,  xv.  243. 

"A  Year's  Work  in  Abdominal  Surgery  at  the  Kensing- 
ton Hospital  for  Women."  Ann.  Gyncec.  and  Pcediat., 
Phila.,  1891-92,  v.  225-237. 

"Endometritis,  Considered  Clinically."  Ann.  Gyncec. 
and  Pcediat.,  Phila.,  1891-92,  v.  513-547. 

"Relief  of  Partial  Intestinal  Obstruction  Following 
the  Removal  of  the  Uterine  Appendages."  Med.  and 
Surg.  Reporter,  Phila.,  1891,  lxv.  162. 

"  Review  of  the  Progress  of  Gynaecology  During  the 
Past  Ten  Years."  Trans.  D.  Hayes  Agnew  Surgical  So- 
ciety, 1892. 

"  Points  in  Office  Practice  in  the  Treatment  of  the  Dis- 
eases of  Women."    Times  and  Reg.,  New  York  and  Phila., 

1892,  xxiv.  615-619 ;  Proc.  Phila.  Co.  Med.  Society, 
Phila.,  1892,  xiii.  253. 

"  Certain  Aspects  of  Gonorrhoea  in  Women."  Am. 
Jr.  Obst.,  New  York,  1892,  xxvi.  551-560;  Trans.  Am. 
Gyncec.  Soc,  Phila.,  1892,  xvii.  143-157. 

"A  Year's  Work  in  Minor  Surgical  Gynaecology  at  the 
Kensington  Hospital  for  Women."  Trans.  Phila.  Co. 
Med.  Society,  Phila.,  1892. 

"Case  of  True  Pelvic  Abscess."  Ann.  Gyncec.  and 
Pcediat.,  Phila.,  1892-93,  201. 


DR.  CHARLES  P.  NOBLE. 


131 


"Report  of  a  Successful  Elective  Cesarean  Section." 
Ann.  Gyncec.  and  Pcediat.,  Phila.,  1892-93,  vi.  196-198. 

"Vaginal  Hysterectomy  for  Cancer,  with  a  Report  of 
Four  Cases."  Ann.  Gyncec.  and  Pcediat.,  Phila.,  1892-93, 
vi.  257-259. 

"  Symphyseotomy  versus  its  Substitutes,  with  the  Re- 
port of  a  Case  of  Symphyseotomy."  Med.  News,  Phila., 
1893,  lxii.  176-181  ;  Trans.  Coll.Phys.,  Phila.,  1893,  3  s., 
xv.  51-63. 

"  The  Csesarean  Section  and  its  Substitutes."  Am.  Jr. 
Obst.,  New  York,  1893,  xxvii.  208-218-. 

"  Early  Diagnosis  and  Operation  in  Cancer  of  the 
Uterus."    Am.  Gyncec.  Journal,  Toledo,  1892,  ii.  717-721. 

"  Certain  Problems  in  Abdominal  Surgery,  Based  on 
One  Hundred  Coeliotomies."  Am.  Jr.  Obst.,  New  York, 
1893,  xxyii-  625-649. 

"  Fibroid  Tumors  and  Hysterectomy."  St.  Louis  Cour. 
Med.,  1893,  viii-  ! 34-I36- 

"  Cases  of  Neglected  Pus-tubes  ;  a  Contribution  to  the 
Natural  History  of  Pus  in  the  Pelvis."  Ann.  Gyncec.  and 
Pczdiat.,  Phila  ,  1892-93,  vi.  535-537. 

"  The  Question  of  Operation  in  Cases  of  Chronic 
Ovaritis."     Amer.  Jr.    Obst.,   New   York,    1893,    xxviii. 

59-67. 

"  Certain  Aspects  of  Puerperal  Septicaemia,  with  the 
Report  of  a  Case  of  Acute  Puerperal  Cellulitis."  Ann. 
Gyncec.  and  Pcediat.,  Phila.,  1892-93,  vi.  537-539. 

"The  Causation  of  Diseases  of  Women."  Internat. 
Med.  Mag.,  Phila.,  1893,  ii.  599-607;  Jr.  Am.  Med. 
Ass'n,  Chicago,  1893,  xxi.  410-415. 

"  Uterine  Disease  and  Imperfect  Utero-ovarian  Devel- 
opment."    Med.  Standard,  Chicago,  1893,  xiv.  101. 

"  Report  of  Two  Years'  Work  in  Abdominal  Surgery  at 
the  Kensington  Hospital  for  Women."  Internat.  Med. 
Mag.,  Phila.,  1893.  ii.  985-1002. 

"  The  Relation  of  Certain  Urinary  Conditions  to  Gynae- 


!«  DR    CHARLES  P.   NOBLE. 

cological  Surgery."  Am.  Jr.  Obst.,  New  York,  1893, 
xxviii.  753-762. 

"  Surgical  Shock."  Ann.  Gyncec.  and  Pcediat.,  Phila!, 
1893-94,  vii.  206-211. 

"A  New  Uterine  Cutting  Curette  Forceps."  Ann. 
Gyncec.  and  Pcediat.,  Phila. ,  1893-94.  vii.  340. 

"The  Periect  Needle-holder."  Ann.  Gynac.  and 
Pcediat.,  March,  1894. 

"Profuse  Menstruation."  Ann.  Gyncec.  and  Pcediat., 
Phila.,  1893-94,  vii.  334-340. 

"Procidentia  Uteri."  Ann.  Gyncec.  and  Pcediat., 
Phila.,  April,  1894. 

"  Report  of  a  Case  of  Imperforate  Hymen,  with  the 
Retention  of  Menstrual  Blood ;  together  with  Remarks 
upon  the  Question  of  Physical  Examination  of  Young 
Girls."     Med.  Record,  New  York,  1894,  xlv.  301. 

"A  New  Method  of  Examining  the  Kidney  for  Stone." 
Phila.  Polyclinic,  1894,  iii.  135. 

'Acute  Puerperal  Cellulitis  and  True  Pelvic  Abscess." 
Am.  Jr.  Obst.,  New  York,  1894,  xxix.  447-456. 

"Case  of  Puerperal  Cellulitis."  Gaillard's  Med.  Jr., 
New  York,  1894,  lviii.  307-311. 

"Uterine  Fibroids."  Med.  and  Surg.  Reporter,  Phila., 
1894,  lxx.  775-7S1. 

"  Symphyseotemy  versus  the  Induction  of  Premature 
Labor."     Am.  Jr.   Obst.,  New  York,  1894,  xxx.  50-56. 

"Remarks  on  the  Treatment  of  Inevitable  Abortion." 
Codex  Medicus,  Phila.,  1894,  i.  10-14. 

"  Puerperal  Pelvic  Cellulitis  and  Puerperal  Peritonitis." 
Am.  Gyncec.  and  Obst.  Jr.,  New  York,  January,  1895. 

"Diagnosis  of  Pregnancy  During  the  First  Three 
Months."    Trans.  Phila.  Co.  Med.  Society,  November,  1894- 

"  Remarks  on  Ectopic  Pregnancy."  Am.  Gyncec.  and 
Obslet.  Jr.,  New  York,  January,  1895. 

"  Cceliotomy  for  Puerperal  Septicaemia  and  Peritonitis." 
Am.  Gyncec.  and  Obstet.  Jr.,  New  York,  April,  1S95. 


DR.  E.  H.   PRATT.  I33 

E.  H.  PRATT,  A.M.,  M.D.,  LL.D., 

CHICAGO,    ILL. 

The  life  and  achievements  of  him  whose  name  heads 
this  biography  worthily  illustrate  what  may  be  done  by 
persistent  and  painstaking  effort. 

Edwin  Hartley  Pratt  is  a  native  of  Towanda,  Pa.,  and 
was  born  November  6,  1849,  tne  son  °f  Leonard  Pratt, 
M.D.,  and  Betsey  (Belding)  Pratt,  both  of  whom  are  of 
English  descent.  The  father,  now  a  resident  of  San  Jose, 
Cal.,  was  formerly  connected  with  the  Hahnemann  Medical 
College,  Chicago,  and  for  many  years  was  one  of  the  most 
distinguished  physicians  in  the  Northwest.  He  is  a  man 
of  progressive  ideas,  noted  for  ability  and  integrity  of 
character,  gentleness  of  manner,  and  promptness  in  all 
things.  The  maternal  ancestors  were  long-lived  people, 
and  the  mother  of  our  subject  inherited  a  rugged  consti- 
tution. She  is  a  woman  of  large  stature,  energetic,  fear- 
less, and  persevering,  and  when  convinced  of  the  Tightness 
of  a  purpose  or  plan  allows  no  obstacle  to  stand  in  the  way 
of  its  achievement.  Dr.  Pratt  possesses  a  happy  combina- 
tion of  many  of  the  qualities  and  characteristics  of  both 
his  parents.  In  physical  organization  he  most  resembles 
the  Beldings,  being  large  in  stature,  six  feet  tall,  finely 
proportioned  and  weighing  250  pounds.  In  mental  make- 
up he  has  the  cheerfulness  and  hopefulness  of  his  father, 
combined  with  his  mother's  indomitable  energy,  courage, 
and  perseverance.  His  only  living  sister,  Nettie  L.  Pratt, 
is  a  young  lady  noted  for  her  unusual  musical  attainments. 
She  resides  at  San  Jose,  Cal.  Another  sister,  Hattie,  died 
when  thirteen  years  of  age  of  malignant  diphtheria,  it 
being  one  of  the  first  cases  in  this  country.  An  only 
brother  died  in  infancy. 

Prior  to  his  fifteenth  year  Edwin  attended  the  common 


!34  DR-  E-   H-  PRATT. 

schools,  and  spent  a  year  at  Mt.  Carroll  (Illinois)  Semi- 
nary. In  order  to  give  him  the  advantage  of  a  college 
education  his  father  removed  to  Wheaton,  in  DuPage 
County,  Illinois,  where  he  pursued  the  first  year  prepara- 
tory course  at  Wheaton  College.  Upon  the  opening  of 
the  second  year  the  college  authorities,  learning  that  he 
had  interested  himself  in  the  organization  of  a  Good 
Templars'  lodge,  and  being  opposed  to  secret  societies, 
demanded  that  he  sever  his  connection  with  the  lodge. 
He  was  only  a  day  student,  living  at  his  own  home,  and 
his  father  was  a  member  of  the  lodge,  and  feeling  the  in- 
justice of  the  demand  he  refused  to  comply  with  it.  Leav- 
ing the  school,  he  at  once  entered  the  second  year  class  in 
the  preparatory  department  of  the  University  of  Chicago. 
He  remained  at  this  institution  six  years,  completing  a 
thorough  course  of  study,  and  graduating  with  the  class  of 
1S71  with  the  degree  of  A.  B.  In  college  he  was  known 
as  a  hard  worker,  and  developed  a  special  aptitude  for 
geometry,  logic,  metaphysics,  grammar,  and  rhetoric,  and 
was  especially  fond  of  the  Odes  of  Horace  and  Ars  Poetica, 
by  reason  of  their  help  to  him  in  writing  and  speaking. 
In  the  literary  society  to  which  he  belonged,  the  "  Tri 
Kappa,"  he  was  a  leader  in  debate  and  among  the  fore- 
most writers  and  speakers,  and  made  himself  popular 
among  his  fellow  students  by  entering  heartily  into  the 
true  spirit  of  college  life.  He  was  a  prominent  member  of 
the  "  Delta  Kappa  Epsilon  Fraternity."  He  also  had  fin 
musical  tastes  and  talents.  His  own  choice  was  to  fit  him- 
self for  the  practice  of  law,  but  knowing  the  disappoint- 
ment of  his  father  should  he  not  enter  the  medical  profes- 
sion, he  yielded  his  own  wishes,  and  in  October,  18  71, 
entered  Hahnemann  Medical  College,  and  was  graduated 
in  the  spring  of  1873  wi^  t^ie  degree  of  M.D.  During 
his  medical  course  he  acted  as  quiz  master  in  connection 
with  his  father's  class,  that  of  special  pathology  and  diag- 
nosis, and  also  during  his  last  year  filled  the  position  of 


DR.  E.  H.  PRATT. 


135 


demonstrator  of  anatomy  under  appointment  of  the  in- 
cumbent of  that  chair.  After  listening  to  his  valedictory- 
address  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  college  were  so  favor- 
ably impressed  that  they  at  once  invited  him  to  become 
demonstrator  and  adjunct  professor  of  anatomy.  In  order 
better  to  qualify  himself  for  the  place  he  visited  Philadel- 
phia, and  spent  the  spring  term  in  Professor  Keen's  school 
of  anatomy  and  in  Jefferson  Medical  College. 

In  the  fall  of  1873  ne  entered  upon  his  duties  as  teacher 
in  Hahnemann  Medical  College,  lecturing  twice  each 
week,  and  in  addition  filled  the  place  of  the  professor  of 
anatomy  when  that  gentleman  was  absent,  and,  as  he  was 
present  but  twice  during  the  entire  winter,  the  responsi- 
bilities of  the  position  mainly  devolved  upon  Dr.  Pratt. 
Although  the  mental  strain  was  severe  he  bore  up  under  it, 
and  at  the  close  of  the  year  had  the  satisfaction  of  know- 
ing that  his  work  was  highly  satisfactory.  Dr.  Pratt  was 
now  tendered  the  professorship  of  anatomy,  but  the  desire 
to  engage  in  active  practice,  and  the  thought  that  he  could 
no  longer  afford  to  donate  his  services,  led  him  at  first  to 
decline  the  offer.  The  college  authorities,  however,  know- 
ing the  value  of  his  services,  were  reluctant  to  let  him  go, 
and  at  once  tendered  him  a  fair  salary.  Under  this  ar- 
rangement he  accepted  the  position,  and  filled  it  until  the 
spring  of  1877.  At  this  time,  owing  to  dissensions  be- 
tween the  board  of  trustees  of  the  college  and  the  faculty, 
ten  of  the  thirteen  professors  resigned,  and  organized  the 
Chicago  Homoeopathic  Medical  College.  With  these 
doctors  Dr.  Pratt  sympathized  most  heartily,  believing 
them  to  be  in  the  right,  and,  although  the  Hahnemann 
College  desired  him  to  continue  his  connection  there  at 
the  same  salary,  a  sense  of  duty  compelled  him  to  decline 
the  offer  and  accept  the  professorship  of  the  same  chair  in 
the  new  institution  without  remuneration.  This  chair  he 
filled  for  seven  years,  during  which  time  the  homceopathists 
were  admitted  to  the  wards  of  the  Cook  County  Hospital. 


136 


DR.  E.  H.  PRATT. 


Dr.  Pratt  was  elected  a  member  of  the  hospital  staff,  and 
occupied  a  position  first  in  the  theory  and  practice  depart- 
ment, later  in  the  gynaecological  department,  and  afterward 
was  elected  attending  surgeon  of  the  hospital. 

In  1SS3,  a  vacancy  occurring  in  the  chair  of  surgery  in 
the  college,   Dr.  Pratt,  with  the  consent  of  the  faculty, 
retired  from  the  chair  of  anatomy   and  accepted  that  of 
surgery.     It  was  here,  while  handling  the  complicated  and 
obscure  cases  at  the  college  clinic,  that  he  discovered  what 
has  at  once  marked  an  era  in  the  treatment  of  chronic  dis- 
eases.    Inspired  by  the  thought  of  his  discovery  he  was 
about  to  announce  it  to  his  class,  but  a  second  thought 
prompted  him  to  dismiss  them  with  the  announcement 
that  his  next  lecture  would  be  "  Chronic  Diseases  from  a 
Surgical  Standpoint."     He  had  promised  an  article  for  a 
medical  journal,  and  being  pressed  for  time  he  employed 
a  stenographer  to  report  this  lecture  in  fulfillment  of  that 
promise.     His  purpose  of  presenting  something  new  had 
been  noised  about,  and  when  he  entered  the  lecture-room 
he  found  it  crowded  to  its  fullest  capacity,  among  the 
audience  being  many  visitors  from  other  colleges.     It  was 
a  moment  of  supreme  importance  to  him,  and  as  he  ad- 
vanced in  his  lecture,  the  heavy,  tired,  and  restrained  feel- 
ing which  he  experienced  at  the  opening  passed  away ; 
there  came  from  him  a  flood  of  light  and  he  spoke  as  under 
the  power  of  inspiration,  holding  his  auditors  spell-bound 
to  the  close,  when  their  breathless  silence  was  broken  by 
loud  and  long  applause.     Such  was  the  effect  of  the  lecture 
that  although  it  was  within  three  weeks  of  the  close  of  the 
term,  and  the  students  were  busy  with  examinations  and 
tired  from  their  winter's  work,  sixteen  members  of  the 
class  presented  themselves  for  treatment  under  the  new 
discovery,  which  the  discoverer  had  named  the  Orificial 
Philosophy.     The  result  of  the  treatment  upon  these  cases 
was  so  satisfactory,  and  so  many  were  cured,  that  the  new 
philosophy  was  at  once  pronounced  a  marvellous  success. 


DR.  E.   H.   PRATT. 


137 


From  that  time  the  surgical  clinic  of  the  college  was  con- 
ducted on  the  orificial  principle,  and  for  a  year  was  visited 
by  physicians  of  all  schools,  from  all  parts  of  the  United 
States,  who  came  to  witness  the  workings  of  the  new  phil- 
osophy. The  spread  of  the  new  idea  brought  so  many  in- 
quiries that  Dr.  Pratt  found  the  demands  upon  his  time 
and  strength  more  than  he  could  endure  and  keep  up  his 
private  practice,  and  this  led  him  to  receive  and  instruct 
his  professional  brethern  in  orificial  work  in  classes  instead 
of  singly,  as  was  at  first  his  custom.  He  now  holds  these 
classes  semi-annually  for  a  week,  and  during  that  time  he 
devotes  the  time  to  the  lectures  and  clinical  work,  allow- 
ing members  of  the  class  to  bring  their  most  difficult  cases, 
upon  which  he  publicly  operates.  After  the  second  class 
of  this  kind  those  present  organized  the  National  Associa- 
tion of  Orificial  Surgeons,  electing  Dr.  Pratt  as  honorary 
member,  and  providing  in  their  constitution  that  there 
never  should  be  but  one.  This  association  has  had  a 
wonderful  growth,  and  promises  to  be  one  "of  the  largest 
medical  societies  in  the  United  States.  Such  has  been 
the  effect  of  the  new  method  for  treating  chronic  cases 
that  four  fifths  of  those  apparently  incurable  are  speedily 
restored  to  health.  In  recognition  of  his  services  the 
Chicago  Homoeopathic  Medical  College  established  a  chair 
of  "Orificial  Surgery,"  to  be  filled  by  Dr.  Pratt.  Other 
medical  colleges  followed  the  example,  and  now  this  new 
philosophy  is  taught  in  all  the  medical  colleges  of  this 
country  that  pretend  to  keep  up  with  the  progress  of  the  age. 
Dr.  Pratt  was  honored  with  the  degree  of  LL.D.  by  his 
alma  mater  in  1886.  He  is  an  honorary  member  of  the 
Missouri  Medical  Society,  the  Ohio  Medical  Society,  the 
Kentucky  Medical  Society,  and  the  Southern  Association 
of  Physicians,  and  an  active  member  of  the  Illinois  State 
Medical  Association,  the  Chicago  Academy  of  Medicine, 
and  the  American  Institute  of  Homoeopathy.  He  has  a 
very  large  and  lucrative  practice.     He  is  a  hard  student, 


138 


DR.   E.  H.  PRATT. 


has  an  elegant  library  filled  with  several  thousand  of  the 
choicest  books,  and  ccntributes  largely  to  current  litera- 
ture, besides  being  the  author  of  a  beautifully  illustrated 
work  on  orificial  surgery,  now  in  its  second  edition. 

Dr.  Pratt  was  married  June  26,  1877,  to  Miss  Isa  M. 
Bailey,  of  Jersey  Heights,  N.  J.  Mrs.  Pratt  is  a  lady  of 
unusual  attainments,  with  literary  and  musical  tastes  and 
abilities  of  a  very  high  order,  and  withal  a  woman  of  rare 
good  sense,  and  a  charming  hostess.  Both  she  and  Dr. 
Pratt  are  members  of  the  Apollo  Club,  of  which  the  latter 
was  one  of  the  founders  and  is  now  a  director.  Their 
marriage  has  been  blessed  with  two  children.  A  daughter, 
Isabel,  died  when  eighteen  months  old.  A  son,  Edwin 
Bailey  Pratt,  a  remarkably  precocious  child,  was  killed,  in 
a  street  car  accident,  at  the  age  of  eight  and  one-half  years. 

The  celebrated  and  beautiful  Lincoln  Park  Sanitarium 
was  built  for  Dr.  Pratt's  use,  and  is  a  Mecca  for  the  increas- 
ing throng  of  doctors  who  are  seeking  to  master  the  prin- 
ciples and  practice  of  orificial  surgery.  The  patronage  of 
this  place  is  extensive  and  of  high  grade.  Drs.  F.  D.  Hol- 
brook,  C.  A.  Weirick,  T.  E.  Costain,  and  T.  H.  Trine 
are  the  doctor's  medical  corps  of  assistants.  The  nursing 
department  is  under  the  able  superintendence  of  Miss  Emma 
L.  Baumbach,  who  manages  a  superior  training  school 
known  as  the  "  Lincoln  Park  Training  School  for  Nurses." 
The  school  numbers  about  40  members  at  present,  and  has 
46  alumni.  The  nurses  are  selected  with  great  care,  and 
are  exceptionally  competent  in  every  way.  Dr.  Pratt  is 
President  of  the  Lincoln  Park  Sanitarium  Company  and 
also  of  the  training  school.  He  is  also  editor-in-chief  of 
the  Journal  of  Orificial  Surgery,  having  Drs.  F.  D.  Hol- 
brook  and  C.  A.  Weirick  associated  with  him.  This 
monthly  journal  is  wielding  a  great  influence  in  the  medi- 
cal profession,  rapidly  making  converts  to  the  orificial 
philosophy,  which  seems  destined  to  revolutionize  the 
present  manner  of  treating  chronic  diseases. 


DR.  LIBBIE  HA  MIL  TON  MUNCIE.  j  ,g 

LIBBIE    HAMILTON   MUNCIE,  M.D., 

BROOKLYN,    N.    Y. 

Dr.  Libbie  Hamilton  Muncie  was  born  at  Jamaica, 
L.  L,  in  1866.  Her  father  was  Robert  Lewis  Hamilton, 
M.D.,  a  physician  of  extraordinary  skill,  and  considered 
by  competent  judges  to  be  far  in  advance  of  the  ordinary 
practitioner.  With  quick  perception  and  acute  judgment 
he  was  able  to  diagnose  cases  that  many  other  doctors  con- 
sidered hopeless,  and  thereby  bring  instant  relief  to  his  suf- 
fering patients.  He  was  a  man  who  despised  anything  that 
looked  like  meanness  in  his  fellow-men,  and  never  hesi- 
tated to  condemn  that  spirit  wherever  manifested.  This 
enabled  him  to  espouse  the  cause  of  the  down-trodden 
everywhere,  and  especially  the  Southern  slave,  whose 
wrongs  ever  found  a  ready  response  in  his  soul.  Being  a 
fluent  speaker,  he  was  often  heard  defending  them  against 
their  enemies,  with  an  eloquence  that  would  have  done 
credit  to  a  professional  orator.  At  the  age  of  fifty-two  he 
was  prostrated  with  endocarditis,  and,  despite  the  com- 
bined efforts  of  many  of  the  best  physicians  of  Brooklyn, 
passed  away  at  the  very  beginning  of  a  most  flattering 
life-work. 

His  widow,  Lucinda  Curtis  Hamilton,  was  of  Scotch 
and  Dutch  descent,  and  possessed  many  of  the  sterling 
qualities  of  those  two  nationalities.  She  immediately 
opened  a  private  school  which  she  maintained  for  a  num- 
ber of  years,  thereby  providing  for  her  two  children, 
Lewis  and  Libbie.  When  the  subject  of  this  sketch  was 
about  thirteen  years  of  age  her  mother  was  taken  very 
ill,  and  during  a  protracted  sickness  of  many  weeks  she 
carried  on  her  mother's  work  without  the  loss  of  a  single 
pupil.  Removing  to  Brooklyn  Mrs.  Hamilton  placed  her 
daughter  in  the  public  school,  and  she  subsequently  be- 


I  JO  DR-   LIBB  IE  HAMILTON  MUXCIE. 

came  a  pupil  of  the  Packer  Collegiate  Institute.  The 
pluck  of  this  little  woman  was  manifested  in  the  manner 
in  which  she  provided  for  herself,  to  some  extent,  in  this 
institution.  She  had  learned  to  paint  flower  pieces  so 
deftly  that  her  friends,  knowing  her  needs,  readily  bought 
her  work,  for  which  they  returned  ample  compensation. 
During  this  time  she  met  in  social  circles  a  young  phy- 
sician to  whom  she  became  united  in  marriage  in  1883. 
From  a  child  her  desire  had  been  to  practise  medicine, 
and  even  when  a  girl  she  often '  assisted  her  father  in 
placing  bandages  upon  wounds  or  attending  to  other 
medical  duties  about  his  office. 

After  four  years  of  married  life  it  was  decided  that  she 
should  receive  the  education  which  she  had  so  long  de- 
sired, and  accordingly  entered  the  New  York  Medical 
College  and  Hospital,  where  she  spent  three  years,  grad- 
uating with  the  highest  honors,  and  selected  by  the 
Faculty  as  the  valedictorian  of  the  class. 

So  great  was  the  manifestation  of  her  medical  skill  that 
her  advice  was  often  sought  even  before  her  graduation. 
However,  she  never  loses  sight  of  the  fact  that  gratitude  is 
ever  due  those  noble  women  who,  by  their  skilful  pro- 
fessional work  and  untiring  perseverance,  have  raised  pub- 
lic opinion  that  she  and  others  may  enjoy  many  privileges 
which  to  them  were  denied.  And  never  does  she  fail  to 
ascribe  to  her  noble  husband  praise  and  credit  for  the  un- 
selfish manner  in  which  he  has  hailed  every  opportunity 
for  her  professional  advantage  and  happiness. 

Soon  after  her  graduation  the  attention  of  herself  and 
husband  was  called  to  the  marvellous  success  of  the  surgical 
methods  of  Prof.  E.  H.  Pratt,  of  Chicago,  and  they  accord- 
ingly both  put  themselves  under  his  tuition.  Dr.  Libbie's 
mind,  fresh  from  the  study  of  physiology,  readily  grasped 
the  principles  of  orificial  philosophy,  and  she  returned  to 
her  Brooklyn  home  to  put  them  into  immediate  practice. 
Her  success  was  almost  phenomenal.  Patients  quickly  spread 


DR.  LIBBIE  HA  MIL  TON  MUNCIE. 


141 


the  news  of  their  restoration,  until  at  last  the  Doctor  was 
compelled  to  abandon  outside  practice  and  devote  herself 
entirely  to  the  gynaecological  work  of  the  office.  Her 
quarters  at  her  old  office  became  too  small  for  the  prac- 
tice of  herself  and  husband,  whose  reputation  and  practice 
were  also  increasing,  and  plans  were  finally  adopted  to 
build  two  large  houses  on  the  corner  of  Macon  Street  and 
Marcy  Avenue,  one  of  which  was  to  be  used  as  a  sanita- 
rium and  the  other  as  a  dwelling.  During  the  construc- 
tion of  this  beautiful  set  of  buildings  her  practice  increased 
to  such  an  extent,  and  applications  came  in  so  rapidly, 
that  they  felt  fully  justified  in  having  adopted  their 
enlarged  plans.  The  new  building  was  entered  in  Febru- 
ary, 1895,  and  work  was  immediately  begun  with  a  suf- 
ficient corps  of  trained  and  faithful  nurses,  whose  untiring 
care  and  dexterity  have  added  not  a  little  to  the  reputa- 
tion of  the  sanitarium.  The  house  was  soon  filled  with 
patients,  while  applications  so  increased  that  they  were 
compelled  in  a  few  weeks  to  break  through  the  walls  into 
the  other  house,  making  the  two  buildings  into  one 
sanitarium.    . 

The  story  of  Dr.  Libbie  Muncie's  professional  life  reads 
like  a  romance.  She  is  not  only  a  follower  of  Pratt,  but 
is  herself  also  an  originator,  and  is  only  too  willing  that 
any  physician  should  come  and  see  for  himself  her  methods 
of  orificial  surgery,  and  many  are  constantly  taking  advan- 
tage of  this  opportunity.  Physicians  commend  her  for 
the  remarkable  coolness  manifested  in  the  most  difficult 
operations,  for  the  dexterity  and  exactness  of  every  move- 
ment, and  for  her  readiness  to  answer  the  many  questions 
with  which  she  is  constantly  plied,  so  that  one  physician 
was  heard  to  remark :  "I  have  seen  many  operations,  by 
noted  surgeons,  too,  but  never  so  pretty  an  operation  in 
every  respect  as  that  by  Dr.  Libbie  Hamilton  Muncie." 
She  has  adopted  largely  the  Pratt  surgical  method  of 
"vaginal  hysterectomy,"  which   requires  neither  clamp, 


142 


DR.  EDWARD  HENRY  MUX  CI E. 


ligature,  nor  great  bleeding,  and,  being  the  first  to  apply 
this  method  in  the  East,  has  gained  a  pre-eminent  reputa- 
tion. 

Dr.  Libbie  is  a  noble,  refined  woman  of  esthetic  tastes, 
a  kind  mother,  and  a  never-failing  friend.  She,  with  her 
noble  partner,  is  a  devout  Christian,  ascribing  her  skill  to 
God  given  endowments  and  her  success  to  a  kind  and 
beneficent  Providence.  The  church  is  the  delight  of  her- 
self and  husband,  where  they  may  each  be  found  every 
Sunday  morning  when  not  necessarily  detained.  With 
her  cheerful  disposition,  her  remarkable  skill  and  unvary- 
ing self-possession,  she  inspires  her  patients  with  hope, 
ever  teaching  them  to  abandon  the  search  for  the  dark 
and  bitter  phases  of  life  so  common  among  ill  persons, 
and  look  to  the  bright  side  and  cultivate  cheerful  dispo- 
sitions. 

Dr.  Muncie  is  a  member  of  the  Kings  County  Society, 
of  the  American  Association  of  Orificial  Surgeons,  of  the 
Alumni  Association  of  the  Woman's  College,  and  Vice- 
President  of  the  Post-Graduate  Alumni  Association  of 
Chicago  Homoeopathic  Medical  College. 


EDWARD  HENRY  MUNCIE,  M.D., 

BROOKLYN,   N.   Y. 

Dr.  Edward  Henry  Muncie  was  born  in  Babylon, 
Suffolk  County,  N.  Y.,  December  25,  1852.  His  ancestry 
were  of  French  (Huguenot)  and  Dutch  origin,  and  were 
among  the  first  settlers  on  Long  Island.  Dr.  Muncie's 
early  childhood  was  passed  on  his  father's  farm.  At  an 
early  age  he  manifested  a  desire  for  "  doctoring,"  and  the 
animals  on  the  farm,  from  the  horses  to  the  chickens,  came 
in  for  a  share  of  his  skill,  and  later  his  family  and  neigh- 
bors.    Consequently  he  early  received  the  title  of  doctor, 


DR.  EDWARD  HENRY  MUNCIE.  lAo 

which  he  then  disliked  and  often  resented.  At  the  age  of 
eighteen  he  refused  a  position  in  one  of  the  village  stores, 
and  did  house-painting  that  he  might  have  his  evenings 
for  study.  Later  he  took  charge  and  kept  the  books  of  a 
paint  store  in  Brooklyn.  This  being  too  confining  he 
obtained  a  position  in  the  Brewers'  and  Maltsters'  Insur- 
ance Company,  139  Broadway,  N.  Y.,  assisting  the  sur- 
veyor and  draughtsman  in  making  maps  and  sketching 
breweries  for  the  company,  and  was  later  employed  by 
Perris  &  Brown,  map-makers. 

While  here  he  was  taken  sick  with  intermittent  fever, 
and  was  compelled  to  resign  his  position  and  go  home. 

After  his  recovery  from  this  severe  illness  he  determined 
to  make  the  practice  of  medicine  his  life-work,  and  one 
month  later  found  him  in  the  New  York  Homoeopathic 
Medical  College,  with  poor  health  and  a  poorer  pocket- 
book.  Not  receiving  an  expected  remittance  he  was 
obliged  to  return  home  with  a  sad  heart  but  determined 
purpose.  There  he  spent  the  winter  studying  medical 
works  and  stenography.  The  following  spring  and  sum- 
mer he  executed  a  number  of  free-hand  crayon  portraits, 
among  which  was  that  of  Prof.  R.  S.  Newton,  M.D.,  dean 
of  the  New  York  Eclectic  Medical  College,  who  mani- 
fested a  kindly  interest  in  young  Muncie  and  persuaded 
him  to  attend  the  aforesaid  institution,  which  he  did  in  the 
fall  and  winter  of  1876.  The  following  spring  and  sum- 
mer he  again  engaged  in  portraiture  in  order  to  obtain 
means  to  pay  for  the  next  college  course.  While  at  work 
on  his  pictures  he  would  always  have  his  medical  works 
before  him,  and  thus  by  his  diligence  he  finally  succeeded 
in  obtaining  that  degree  for  which  he  had  been  so  earn- 
estly laboring. 

After  graduation,  borrowing  five  dollars  with  which  to 
pay  his  way  home,  he  entered  the  old  homestead  a  happy 
conqueror,  with  his  diploma  and  books  under  his  arm 
and  a  number  of  orders  for  portraits,  which,  when  com- 


144 


DR.  EDWARD  HENRY  MUNCIE. 


pleted,  gave  him  means  for  opening  a  studio  on  Broadway, 
New  York,  where  he  produced  some  fine  crayon  and  pastel 
portraits  for  some  of  the  most  influential  and  wealthy  per- 
sons in  New  York  and  Brooklyn.  Continuing  his  interest  in 
medical  studies  at  night  until  1881,  he  then  opened  an  office 
at  63  Livingston  Street,  Brooklyn,  whrre  he  soon  estab- 
lished a  lucrative  practice,  and  in  1883  married  Libbie 
Hamilton,  only  daughter  of  the  late  Dr.  Robert  L.  Ham- 
ilton, of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.  He  soon  after  purchased  a 
house  at  363  Tompkins  Avenue,  Brooklyn,  where  his  two 
children,  Edith  and  Curtis,  were  born. 

Dr.  Muncie  became  interested  in  orificial  surgery  in 
1888  and  attended  Prof.  E.  H.  Pratt's  course  of  lectures 
and  operations  in  this  branch  at  Chicago,  and  was  elected 
a  member  of  the  American  Association  of  Orificial  Sur- 
geons in  1890.  His  wife  being  also  a  physician  they  have 
together  made  frequent  visits  to  Chicago  for  more  thorough 
investigation  and  instructions  in  this  special  line  of  surgery. 
In  1894  their  gynaecological  and  surgical  practice  had  at- 
tained such  dimensions  that  they  saw  the  need  of  a  build- 
ing for  the  accommodation  and  safe  care  of  surgical  pa- 
tients, and  immediately  began  the  erection  of  such  a  place 
on  the  corner  of  Marcy  Avenue  and  Macon  Street,  Brook- 
lyn, into  which  they  moved  in  February,  1895.  Within  a 
few  weeks  this  commodious  building  was  filled  with  patients 
and  an  ample  corps  of  trained  nurses.  This  place  in  a 
short  time  gained  the  reputation  of  being  homelike  and 
cheerful,  as  the  doctors  and  nurses  alike  seek  to  cultivate 
a  spirit  of  hope,  good  cheer  and  love,  and  the  patients 
soon  feel  this  wholesome  influence  which  "  doeth  good 
like  medicine." 

Dr.  Edward  and  Dr.  Libbie,  as  they  are  called,  make 
a  happy  couple,  operating,  prescribing,  and  consulting 
together  for  the  best  interest  of  those  seeking  their  advice. 
Their  present  work  is  crowned  with  abundant  success, 
and  their  future  promises  to  be  an  exceeding  greater  pros- 


DR.  A.    GOLDSPOHN. 


H5 


perity.  They  are  as  one  with  their  patients,  and  in  thought, 
word,  and  deed  they  are  before  God  as  instruments  in  His 
hands  to  administer  to  the  body  and  soul  of  suffering  hu- 
manity. 

Dr.  Muncie  is  a  member  of  the  County  and  State  medi- 
cal societies  in  the  County  and  State  where  he  lives,  and 
of  the  American  Association  of  Orificial  Surgeons. 


A  GOLDSPOHN,  M.D., 

CHICAGO,  ILL. 

Among  the  active  practitioners  of  Chicago  Albert 
Goldspohn  is  recognized  as  a  surgeon  of  more  than  ordi- 
nary learning,  skill,  and  reputation.  Aside  from  several 
original  operations  in  gynaecology,  he  has  been  active 
chiefly  in  eliminating  errors  in  pathology  and  treatment 
from  this  department  of  medicine.  He  was  born  in  Dane 
County,  Wisconsin,  September  23,  1851,  and  his  parents, 
William  and  Friedericke  (Kohlmann)  Goldspohn,  were 
natives  of  Germany,  and  educated  there,  but  came  to  this 
country  before  marriage.  They  very  wisely  did  not  retain 
any  of  the  German  provincial  dialects  nor  adopt  the  Eng- 
lish language  in  their  domestic  circle,  but  taught  their 
children  the  proper  German  (Hochdeutsch)  as  their  mother 
tongue.  That  was  of  great  value  to  this  their  oldest  son 
in  business  as  well  as  in  his  literary  studies,  and  especi- 
ally while  taking  a  two-year  post-graduate  medical  course 
in  Germany. 

As  the  boy  of  a  small  farmer  he  had  plenty  to  do  when 
he  was  not  at  school,  and  never  became  accustomed  to 
idleness. 

He  cared  little  for  the  usual  rural  sports  derived  from 
sundry  games  and  from  hunting,  but  took  to  books  on 
rainy  days.     A  number  of  times  copious  tears  were  shed 

VOL    II. — IO 


I46  DR.  A.    GOLDSPOHX. 

when  he  came  late  to  the  district  school,  or  when  he  was 
"spelled  down,"  or  was  seated  among  the  girls  as  a  pun- 
ishment. His  natural  inclination  to  study  was  fostered  by 
his  parents,  who,  being  more  intelligent  than  wealthy, 
assisted  his  own  efforts  materially  with  their  good-will  and 
advice,  and  with  money  as  far  as  they  could. 

After  several  years'  attendance  upon  graded  schools  he 
served  an  apprenticeship  of  two  and  a  half  years  in  a  drug- 
store and  became  prescription  clerk.  While  here,  a  constant 
student  of  drugs  and  chemicals,  he  determined  to  take  a 
thorough  literary  and  scientific  collegiate  course,  and  ulti- 
mately to  study  medicine.  Accordingly  he  entered  the 
Northwestern  College  at  Naperville,  111.,  took  up  the  Latin 
scientific  course,  and  was  graduated  in  1875  as  Bachelor 
of  Science. 

He  then  entered  Rush  Medical  College,  of  Chicago, 
and  for  three  consecutive  years  diligently  pursued  the 
course  prescribed  by  that  institution,  taking  both  the 
winter  and  optional  spring  courses  of  each  year,  and 
was  graduated,  with  distinction,  in  1878  as  Doctor  of 
Medicine.  Succeeding  this,  he  entered  Cook  County 
Hospital  as  interne,  having  obtained  the  position  by  com- 
petitive examination. 

This  service  ke  looked  upon  as  a  great  boon,  and 
accordingly  bent  all  his  time  and  energy  to  make  the 
most  of  the  extensive  and  exceedingly  valuable  opportu- 
nities for  experience  with  the  living  and  observation  on 
the  dead. 

The  next  mark  he  set  for  himself  was  post-graduate 
study  in  Europe.  But  before  this  could  be  realized  he 
must  first  earn  the  means  by  general  practice,  for  which 
he  was  much  better  equipped  than  the  average  beginner. 
His  first  "shingle  hung  out"  in  the  suburban  town  of 
Des  Plaines,  and  practice  came  fast.  His  duties  were 
continuous  and  interesting,  but  oftentimes  fraught  with 
great  hardship  and  exposure  in  the  country  and  at  night. 


DR.  A.    GOLDSPOHX.  Y*j 

But  he  was  very  successful.  Scores  of  families  became 
his  grateful  friends,  and  he  was  enabled  to  reimburse  his 
parents  with  money  advanced  for  him,  and  to  enter  upon 
his  European  trip. 

Having  gratuitously  introduced  a  well- qualified  phy- 
sician to  his  patrons  in  1885,  he  went  abroad  and  en- 
gaged with  much  energy  and  enthusiasm  in  post-gradu- 
ate studies  for  two  years  in  the  Universities  of  Heidelberg, 
Wurzburg,  Strasburg,  Halle,  and  Berlin,  directing  his 
attention  to  surgery  in  general  and  gynaecology  in  particu- 
lar. In  October,  1887,  he  began  private  practice  in  Chi- 
cago, and  about  six  months  later  was  appointed  as  one  of 
the  attending  surgeons  to  the  German  Hospital,  and  in 
June,  1892,  as  Professor  of  Gynaecologyin  the  Post-gradu- 
ate Medical  School  of  that  city,  as  a  recognition  of  his 
ability. 

He  is  a  member  of  the  Chicago  Medical  Society,  of  the 
American  Medical  Association,  of  the  Illinois  State  Medi- 
cal Society,  of  the  American  Association  of  Obstetricians 
and  Gynaecologists,  and  of  the  Chicago  Gynaecological 
Society. 

His  contributions,  chiefly  to  gynaecological  literature, 
have  not  been  very  numerous,  but  they  have  always  given 
conclusive  evidence  of  originality,  ability,  and  a  complete 
survey  of  the  world's  allied  literature. 

The  number  of  surgical  and  gynaecological  journals  that 
make  up  much  of  his  meat  and  drink  in  medicine  is  un- 
usually large,  and  his  choicest  hours  are  devoted  to  those 
that  are  printed  in  German. 

On  October  22,  1879,  he  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss 
Victoria  E.  Escher,  of  Chicago,  who  very  materially  as- 
sisted him  and  lightened  his  burdens  while  practising  at 
Des  Plaines.  In  18S5,  himself,  wife,  and  a  servant  were 
prostrated  with  typhoid  fever,  and  during  his  convales- 
cence in  June  of  that  year  his  wife  died  at  the  residence  of 
relatives  in  Chicago,  from  intestinal  hemorrhage,  while  in 


148 


DR.   IV.   H.    WARDER. 


the  care  of  able  city  physicians.  This  was  a  severe  blow 
to  him,  but  hard  work  in  European  universities  finally 
healed  the  wound.  On  August  4,  1887,  just  prior  tore- 
turning  to  America,  he  was  happily  married  to  his  present 
wife,  formerly  Miss  Cornelia  E.  Walz,  of  Stuttgart,  Ger- 
many.    They  have  no  children. 


W.    H.  WARDER,  M.D., 

PHILADELPHIA,    PA. 

Dr  William  H.  Warder,  born  near  Russellville, 
Logan  County,  Kentucky,  June  12,  1833.  His  father, 
the  Rev.  William  Warder,- was  a  distinguished  Baptist 
divine,  whilst  his  mother,  Margaret  Moorehead,  was  a 
sister  of  Governor  Charles  S.  Moorehead,  of  Kentucky. 

Dr.  Warder  was  educated  at  Russellville  Male  Academy. 
AVhen  sixteen  years  old  he  came  to  Philadelphia  to  learn 
the  drug  business.  While  prosecuting  his  studies  in 
pharmacy,  chemistry,  and  therapeutics,  he  made  the  ac- 
quaintance of  Dr.  Paul  B.  Goddard,  one  of  the  most 
distinguished  physicians  of  Philadelphia,  who  induced  him 
to  study  the  other  branches  of  medicine.  Before  com- 
pleting his  studies  he  was  called  home  by  the  illness  of  his 
mother,  who  was  then  living  near  McMinnville,  Tenn. 
He  shortly  after  commenced  the  drug  business  in  McMinn- 
ville, Tenn.,  and  in  the  meanwhile  prosecuted  his  medical 
studies.  In  1859  he  was  graduated  in  medicine  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Nashville,  Tenn.  He  soon  gained  a  reputation 
in  surgery  and  general  practice.  From  1862  to  1864  the 
armies  of  the  United  States  Government  and  the  Southern 
States  overran  the  country  where  the  doctor  then  lived, 
and,  as  he  was  one  of  the  few  prominent  men  in  that 
section  who  adhered  to  the  Union,  he  was  forced  to  con- 
fine himself  to  town  work  within  the  Federal  lines.     In 


^^7^/^y 


DR.   W.  H.    WARDER.  Iz,g 

1864  he  removed  to  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  where  he  had 
married,  in  1855,  Miss  Josephine  B.  Stager.  By  this 
marriage  he  has  two  daughters  and  a  son.  His  oldest 
daughter  married  Mr.  Frank  S.  Lewis,  and  his  second 
daughter  married  Mr.  John  P.  Crozer.  His  son,  Dr. 
Charles  B  Warder,  is  a  graduate  of  the  Jefferson  Medical 
College  and  the  medical  department  of  the  University 
of  Pennsylvania,  and  is  now  in  charge  of  the  Department 
for  Diseases  of  the  Nose  and  Throat  and  Ear  of  the  Union 
Mission  Hospital,  Philadelphia. 

Soon  after  Dr.  Warder  came  to  Philadelphia  he  formed 
the  acquaintance  of  Professor  S.  D.  Gross,  whose  influence 
and  inspiration,  no  doubt  in  a  great  degree,  formed  his 
medical  life  and  future  success. 

In  1866  he  began  a  course  of  examinations  upon  sur- 
gery in  connection  with  the  Jefferson  Medical  College. 
In  1867  and  1868  he  gave  private  lectures  upon  inflam- 
mation and  its  results.  From  this  time  until  1875  ne 
gave  private  lectures  upon  obstetrics,  diseases  of  women, 
use  and  abuse  of  forceps,  ovarian  tumors,  fibroid  tumors 
of  the  uterus,  and  pelvic  peritonitis.  He  was  graduated 
from  Jefferson  Medical  College  in  187 1.  In  1874  he  was 
elected  to  the  Obstetrical  Staff  of  the  Philadelphia  Hos- 
pital, where  he  gave  clinical  lectures,  and  performed  many 
of  the  advanced  operations  in  gynaecology.  Dr.  Warder 
was  among  the  first  gynaecologists  of  this  institution  to 
perform  abdominal  hysterectomy,  which  he  did  in  1876 
for  uterine  fibroids.  He  resigned  from  the  Philadelphia 
Hospital  Staff  in  1881,  and  has  since  devoted  himself  to 
his  private  practice  and  bis  private  hospital  for  diseases 
of  women. 

Dr.  Warder  was  the  orator  of  the  Jefferson  Medical 
College  Alumni  Association  in  1886,  and  pronounced  an 
eloquent  eulogy  upon  his  friend  and  patron,  Professor  S.  D. 
Gross.  He  was  an  active  member  of  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee of  the  Alumni  Association  for  a  number  of  years, 


jijO  DR.  CHARLES  JEWETT. 

and  for  a  term  Chairman  of  the  Committee.  He  was 
active  in  raising  funds  to  build  the  Jefferson  Medical  Col- 
lege Hospital,  and  has  always  been  a  strong  advocate  for 
advanced  medical  teaching.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Memorial  Baptist  Church.  Philadelphia,  Pa. 


CHARLES  JEWETT,  M.D., 

BROOKLYN,  N.   Y. 

Dr.  Charles  Jewett  was  born  in  Bath,  Me.,  and  his 
early  education  was  obtained  in  the  public  schools  of  that 
city.  He  completed  a  four  years'  course  of  preparation 
for  college  in  three  years  and  received  the  prize  for  English 
composition  at  the  time  he  was  graduated  at  Bowdoin,  in 
the  year  1864.  At  the  recent  centennial  (June,  1894) 
the  college  conferred  upon  him  the  degree  of  Sc.D. 

His  ancestry  on  both  sides  includes  many  names  well 
known  in  New  England  history,  some  of  them  prominent 
in  State  and  national  councils,  others  as  authors,  journalists, 
divines,  and  as  men  of  letters.  His  family  was  descended 
from  Maximilian  Jewett,  who  came  to  this  country  from 
Bradford,  England,  in  1639,  and  settled  in  Rowley,  Mass. 
The  Jewetts  sprang  from  the  Huguenots.  Their  lineage  is 
traced  to  one  Henri  de  Juatt,  a  knight  of  the  first  crusade. 

In  1867  he  began  the  study  of  medicine.  He  attended 
medical  lectures  at  the  Long  Island  College  Hospital  and 
at  the  University  Medical  School,  and  was  graduated  by 
the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  in  1871.  In  1880 
he  received  the  appointment  of  Professor  of  Obstetrics  and 
Diseases  of  Children  at  the  Long  Island  College  Medical 
School,  and  has  since  then  held  the  position.  He  is  also  a 
member  of  the  Hospital  Staff,  and  is  recognized  as  one  of 
the  leading  obstetrical  specialists  of  the  country. 

In  1878  he  was  elected  President  of  the  Medical  Society 
of  the  County  of  Kings,  and  was  re-elected  in  1879  an^  in 


DR.    CHARLES  JEWETT.  lcl 

1880.  He  is  at  present  Physician  to  St.  Mary's  Hospital, 
Obstetrician  to  the  Long  Island  College  Hospital,  Con- 
sulting Obstetrician  to  the  Kings  County  Hospital,  Con- 
sulting Gynaecologist  to  the  Bushwick  Hospital,  and  Presi- 
dent of  the  Board  of  Trustees. 

He  was  for  a  time  editor  of  the  Annals  of  the  Anatomi- 
cal and  Surgical  Society,  and  is  one  of  the  collaborators  of 
the  American  Journal  of  Gynecology  a?id  Obstetrics.  He  is 
the  author  of  one  or  two  well-known  books  in  his  specialty, 
and  of  numerous  papers  on  obstetrical  and  other  subjects. 
He  has  also  contributed  chapters  to  several  obstetrical  and 
gynaecological  works. 

The  manikin-teaching  at  the  Long  Island  College  Hos- 
pital, done  under  his  supervision,  is  not  surpassed  in  the 
world ;  and  while  Vienna  and  Prague  may  offer  a  greater 
chance  to  study  the  practice  of  dealing  with  deformities 
of  the  pelvis,  there  is  no  course,  of  which  we  have  knowl- 
edge, that  gives  so  clear  an  understanding  of  the  mechan- 
ism of  normal  labor. 

Among  the  learned  bodies  with  which  he  is  identified  are 
the  Medical  Society  of  Kings  County,  the  Brooklyn  Gynae- 
cological Society  and  the  Brooklyn  Pathological  Society, 
New  York  State  Medical  Society,  the  New  York  Academy 
of  Medicine,  the  New  York  Obstetrical  Society,  and  both 
the  British  and  the  American  Gynaecological  Societies. 

He  is  Trustee  of  the  Eye  and  Ear  Infirmary  and  Vice- 
President  of  the  New  York  Physicians'  Mutual  Aid  Society. 

He  has  been  President  of  Kings  County  Medical  Society, 
and  is  now  President  of  the  New  York  Obstetrical  Society 
and  of  the  Brooklyn  Gynaecological  Society. 

He  was  appointed  Honorary  Chairman  of  the  Obstetric 
Section  of  the  Pan-American  Medical  Congress. 

He  has  performed  all  the  major  operations  known  to 
obstetric  surgery,  including  two  laparo-elytrotomies,  three 
Caesarean  sections,  one  Porro  operation,  and  was  the  first 
in  America  to  perform  symphysiotomy. 


!C2  DR.  FLORA  A.  BREWSTER. 

Dr.  Jewett  has  a  large  and  lucrative  practice.  He  has 
a  handsome  home  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  situated  in  the  most 
beautiful  portion  of  the  city. 


FLORA  A.  BREWSTER,  M.D., 

BALTIMORE,    MD. 

In  gathering  the  facts  relative  to  the  autobiography  of 
Dr.  Flora  Alzora  Brewster,  it  is  apparent  that  the  city 
of  Baltimore,  Md.,  has,  during  the  past  decade,  made 
wonderful  advancement  in  the  number  of  successful  women 
engaged  in  the  practice  of  medicine ;  no  one  of  whom 
stands  higher  in  the  medical  profession,  or  has  been  more 
successful  as  a  physician  and  surgeon,  than  the  subject  of 
this  sketch. 

Dr.  Brewster  was  born  at  Alfred,  Allegany  County, 
New  York,  February  26,  1852.  She  is  a  daughter  of 
Ephraim  J.  Brewster,  of  Connecticut — a  descendant  of 
Elder  William  Brewster,  who  came  over  to  America  in 
the  "  May  Flower." 

Her  mother  was  Mary  E.  Burdick,  also  of  English  ex- 
traction, who  adhered  closely  to  the  old  Sabbatarian 
doctrine.  This  sect — also  called  Seventh-Day  Baptists — 
claim  that  the  old  Jewish  Sabbath  should  never  have  been 
changed  to  Sunday.  On  the  paternal  side  of  her  family 
she  is  descended  from  the  Campbells  of  Scotland,  hence  a 
mixture  of  English  and  Scotch  blood. 

In  1866  she  was  sent  to  Alfred  University,  where  she 
obtained  her  education.  After  creditably  passing  the 
examinations  she  commenced  the  scientific  course,  show- 
ing marked  ability  and  great  talent  for  mathematics.  In 
1868  a  sad  bereavement  befell  her  in  the  sudden  death  of 
a  fond  father,  which  event  compelled  her  to  leave  the 
university  in  order  to  attend  to  the  finances  of  the  family. 
Being  thoroughly  imbued  with  that  spirit  of  independence 


■' 


a. 


a^#y  c^ j%>u^Ls&A^  a%;$ 


DR.   FLORA  A.  BREWSTER.  j,-, 

which  is  characteristic  of  many  women  of  the  present 
age,  she  accepted  a  position  as  copyist  in  a  tax-collector's 
office,  which,  however,  she  soon  gave  up  to  begin  teaching. 

Possessed  of  fine  executive  ability  she  soon  became  a 
successful  teacher,  and  a  longing  desire  to  complete  her 
studies  made  her  frugal  and  careful  of  her  earnings,  but 
two  years  of  most  laborious  work,  teaching  school  and  at 
the  same  time  prosecuting  her  university  studies,  so 
seriously  impaired  her  health  that  she  was  compelled  to 
give  up  the  latter  and  devote  her  time  exclusively  to 
teaching.  In  1872  she  was  appointed  teacher  in  the 
Mansfield  State  Orphan  School,  Mansfield,  Pa.,  which 
was  then  the  training  school  for  the  Mansfield  State 
Normal  School.  She  there  took  the  degree  of  B.E.,  and 
in  1877  the  degree  of  Master  of  Elementary  Didactics  was 
conferred  upon  her  while  she  was  still  teaching,  and  in 
the  same  year  she  was  appointed  Principal  of  the  Smeth- 
port  (Pennsylvania)  High  School  and  Academy.  Showing 
great  determination  of  character  and  a  desire  to  become 
proficient  in  whatever  she  undertook,  and  possessing  both 
mental  and  physical  activity,  it  is  not  surprising  that 
success  has  attended  her  efforts,  although  in  the  latter  part 
of  the  year  she  was  forced  by  failing  health,  due  to  over- 
work, to  give  up  teaching. 

She  spent  a  year  travelling  in  the  West  and  Northwest, 
deriving  such  benefit  from  her  Western  sojourn  that  in 
1878  she  went  to  Chicago,  111.,  to  assume  the  business  and 
editorial  management  of  the  Newsboy  s  Appeal,  an  illus- 
trated journal  published  in  the  interest  of  the  Newsboy's 
Home,  in  that  city. 

Not  content  with  this  field  of  labor,  and  desiring  a 
wider  field  for  the  application  of  scientific  knowledge,  she 
decided  to  become  a  physician,  and  the  following  year 
began  to  read  medicine  under  Dr.  Julia  Holmes  Smith,  of 
Chicago,  111.,  at  the  same  time  conducting  a  night  school 
on  the  kindergarten  plan  in  the  Newsboy's  Home. 


1ca       '  DR.  FLORA  A.  BREWSTER. 

In  March,  1882,  she  completed  the  course  in  the  Chicago 
Homoeopathic  Medical  College,  after  which  she  went  to 
Baltimore,  Md.,  where  she  spent  six  months  in  the  office 
and  private  hospital  of  the  late  Professor  August  F.  Erich, 
the  noted  gynaecological  surgeon. 

Having  decided  to  locate  permanently  in  Baltimore, 
she  opened  an  office  and  commenced  to  practise  medicine 
there  in  the  fall  of  1882.  At  that  time  only  one  woman, 
Dr.  Emma  Stein  Wanstall,  who  died  in  September,  1882, 
had  succeeded  in  establishing  a  paying  practice  in  Balti- 
more. 

No  female  physician  in  this  city  had  previously  been 
intrusted  with  surgical  cases,  but  Dr.  Brewster  believed 
that  this  field  was  open  to  sensible,  energetic,  and  skilful 
female  surgeons,  notwithstanding  the  strong  prejudice 
against  them  then  existing  in  the  South,  and  during  the 
next  four  years  worked  arduously,  building  up  a  large  and 
lucrative  surgical  and  gynaecological  practice,  while  at  the 
same  time  doing  a  great  deal  of  charitable  work. 

In  the  spring  of  1886  her  sister,  Cora  B.  Brewster, 
was  graduated  in  medicine,  and  was  received  in  her  office 
as  an  assistant.  In  1889  they  began  the  publication  of 
The  Balti?nore  Family  Health  Journal,  the  name  of  which 
was  changed  in  1891  to  The  Homoeopathic  Advocate  and 
Health  Journal,  and  was  made  a  hospital  journal  with  a 
corps  of  ten  editors. 

In  1890  tne  agitation  caused  by  the  application  for  the 
admission  of  women  to  the  medical  department  of  the 
Johns  Hopkins  University  created  a  lively  interest  in  the 
question  of  the  medical  education  of  women,  and  was  the 
means  of  enlightening  the  people  of  the  South  in  regard 
to  the  status  of  women  in  the  medical  profession.  The 
barriers  that  had  previously  existed  were  gradually  re- 
moved, and  women  could  more  successfully  compete  with 
their  brother  practitioners  in  the  surgical  field. 

In  1883  Dr.  Brewster  was  physician  and  surgeon  to  the 


DR.   FLORA  A.   BREWSTER. 


155 


Home  for  Fallen  Women,  a  charitable  institution  situated 
in  Baltimore,  Md. ;  also  physician  to  the  Female  House 
of  Refuge,  a  reformatory  institution  for  incorrigible  girls. 
She  has  also  given  clinics  in  the  Homoeopathic  Hospital 
in  Baltimore. 

In  September,  1892,  she  spent  some  time  with  Professor 
Pratt,  of  Chicago,  studying  the  principles  of  orificial 
surgery,  and  at  once  made  use  of  them  in  her  surgical 
practice. 

Dr.  Brewster  has  a  large  practice  in  gynaecological  sur- 
gery extending  over  the  entire  South,  and  has  met  with 
remarkable  success  as  a  skilful  and  rapid  operator,  and  has 
the  unprecedented  record  of  never  having  lost  a  surgical 
case.  She  has  invented  several  instruments  for  the  more 
convenient  and  effective  use  of  electricity  in  gynaecological 
practice,  and  also  an  electric  belt,  which  practical  elec- 
tricians say  is  a  great  improvement  upon  all  those  pre- 
viously made. 

The  Doctor  is  an  ardent  advocate  of  the  higher  medical 
education  of  women,  and  is  ever  ready  to  extend  a  helping 
hand  to  young  women  who  desire  to  study  medicine  or 
become  trained  nurses. 

In  1892  the  existing  partnership  with  her  sister,  Dr. 
Cora  B.  Brewster,  was  dissolved. 

Dr.  Brewster's  latest  enterprise  (April,  1893)  has  been 
the  purchase  of  the  large  dwelling  with  handsome  grounds 
attached,  situated  at  1221  Madison  Ave.,  Baltimore,  Md., 
where  she  has  opened  a  sanatorium  for  the  treatment  of 
the  medical  and  surgical  diseases  of  women.  She  has  a 
skilful  and  able  assistant,  Dr.  Donna  Anna  Waldron,  who 
formerly  practised  medicine  in  Hot  Springs,  Arkansas. 
The  buildings  are  well  suited  for  the  purpose — heated  by 
steam  and  fitted  up  with  electric,  medicated,  and  vapor 
baths,  and  all  forms  of  electrical  appliances  used  in  medi- 
cal practice,  apparatus  for  the  Swedish  movement  cure, 
and  also  a  training  school  for  nurses. 


j  -6  DR.  WILLIS  P.  KING. 

In  the  short  time  the  sanatorium  has  been  opened  it  has 
already  proved  a  great  success,  encouraging  alike  to  Dr. 
Brewster  and  her  legion  of  friends. 

Dr.  Brewster  is  a  member  of  the  following  societies, 
viz.  :  Maryland  State  Medical  Society,  Maryland  and 
District  of  Columbia  Clinical  Society,  American  Institute 
of  Homoeopathy,  American  Health  Resort  Association, 
Chairman  of  the  Bureau  of  Gynaecology  in  the  National 
Society  of  Electro-therapeutists,  and  also  a  member  of  the 
American  Association  of  Orificial  Surgeons. 


WILLIS  P.  KING,  M.D., 

KANSAS    CITY,  MO. 

Dr.  Willis  Percival  King  was  born  in  Macon  County, 
Missouri,  on  December  21,  1839.  Both  his  paternal  and 
maternal  grandparents  had  emigrated  together  from 
Madison  County,  Kentucky  to  Missouri  in  1816,  when 
the  latter  was  still  a  Territory  (now  Howard  County, 
Missouri). 

The  Indians  were  yet  in  the  Territory  of  Missouri,  and 
their  incursions  upon  the  new  "settlements"  were  so 
frequent  and  their  depredations  so  bad  that  the  "settlers" 
had  to  "fort  up."  The  fort  occupied  by  his  grandparents 
and  their  neighbors  was  known  as  "Cooper's  Fort," 
being  named  for  Col.  Ben.  Cooper,  a  man  prominent 
among  the  new-comers  and  famed  as  an  Indian  fighter  in 
those  days. 

Dr.  King's  parents,  William  and  Lucy  King,  were 
cousins  and  babes  in  arms  when  they  came  to  Missouri; 
and  they  grew  to  manhood  and  womanhood  in  Howard 
County.  After  the  Indians  had  been  removed  the  families 
moved  to  a  point  near  where  the  town  of  Armstrong  is 
now  situated,  and  where  his  parents  were  married  in  1835 


«*fi^ 


TfcUU*  <%s<^ 


DR.    WILLIS  P.  KING. 


157 


(we  believe).  After  the  birth  of  his  oldest  brother  and 
sister  his  family  removed  to  Macon  County,  where  the 
track  of  the  Indian  was  still  hot  in  the  sand,  and  he  was 
born  there  near  where  the  little  town  of  Callao  is  now 
located. 

There  were  no  school-houses  in  his  neighborhood  until 
he  was  ten  years  old.  At  that  time  a  log  school-house  was 
built,  where  school  was  held  about  three  months  each  win- 
ter. Such  was  his  thirst  for  knowledge  that  he  used  to 
gather  hickory  bark,  and,  after  the  family  had  retired  at 
night,  he  would  lie  on  the  hearth  and  get  his  lessons  and 
read  such  books  as  came  in  his  way. 

Thirsting  for  better  school  advantages,  he  ran  away  from 
home  at  the  age  of  fourteen,  and  worked  about  the  coun- 
try in  the  spring,  summer,  and  in  autumn,  and  went  to 
school  in  winter.  When  the  Hannibal  and  St.  Joseph  Rail- 
road was  being  built  he  worked  at  cutting  out  the  right  of 
way  and  drove  cart  in  the  pit  one  season,  and  then  removed 
to  Howard  County  (which  had,  in  the  meantime,  become 
quite  an  educational  centre),  where  he  attended  school. 
He  then  taught  and  went  to  school  alternately,  until  of 
age. 

In  1 86 1  (June  13)  Dr.  King  married  Miss  Albina  H. 
Hoss,  of  Pettis  County,  Missouri.  He  then  began  the 
study  of  medicine,  and  taught  school  until  ready  to  com- 
plete a  course  at  college .  He  was  graduated  at  the  St.  Louis 
Medical  College  in  March,  1866,  and  at  once  removed  to 
Vernon  County  (Southwest),  Missouri.  After  practising 
in  the  country  for  two  and  a  half  years  he  removed  to 
Nevada,  the  county  seat,  where  he  practised  six  years.  In 
the  meantime  he  attended  Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  Col- 
lege, New  York,  in  1870-71,  having  the  ad  sundum  degree 
conferred  on  him  after  a  full  course  at  this  school. 

In  1874  he  removed  to  Sedalia,  Pettis  County,  Missouri, 
where  he  resided  and  practised  for  fourteen  years. 

In  1884-85  he  took  a  course  at  the  Polyclinic,  New  York, 


jrg  DR.    WILLIS  P.   KING. 

and  again  short  courses  in  the  years  1889  to  1892  inclu- 
sive. 

In  1885  Dr.  King  was  appointed  Assistant  Chief  Surgeon 
of  the  Missouri  Pacific  Railroad,  in  charge  of  the  Sedalia 
Division  and  Hospital,  and  has  had  charge  of  this  hospital 
ever  since.  In  October,  1S88,  the  hospital  was  removed 
from  Sedalia  to  Kansas  City,  where  he  has  ever  since 
resided. 

Dr.  King  began  doing  general  surgical  work  on  his  re- 
turn from  Bellevue  College  in  1871,  and  some  ten  years  later 
commenced  gynaecological  work.  Within  the  last  fifteen 
years  he  has  performed  over  two  hundred  laparotomies  for 
the  removal  of  ovarian  and  fibroid  tumors  and  of  diseased 
ovaries,  with  perhaps  as  good  a  percentage  of  recoveries 
as  that  of  any  other  Western  gynaecologist.  He,  also, 
has  removed  the  uterus  by  the  vagina  for  cancer  and 
by  laparotomy  for  fibroid  tumors  thirteen  times  without  a 
death. 

His  work  in  gynaecological  and  general  surgery  within 
the  last  ten  years  has  been  quite  extensive,  and  has  covered 
every  class  of  surgical  operations  which  he  deemed  justifi- 
able. 

Among  the  writings  of  Dr.  King  may  be  mentioned 
Stories  of  a  Country  Doctor,  400  pages,  the  tenth  thousand 
of  which  is  now  in  press;  "Ligation  of  the  Common  and 
External  Carotid  and  Superior  Thyroid  Arteries  for  Aneu- 
rism of  the  Internal  Carotid  within  the  Cranium — Re- 
covery;" "Wiring  the  Fractured  Symphysis  Pubis,  Sup- 
plemented by  Steel  Pelvic  Clamp,"  and  many  others. 
These  are  the  most  important. 

Dr.  King  was  President  of  the  Pettis  County  Medical 
Society  in  1878;  Medical  Association  of  the  State  of 
Missouri,  1SS1-82 ;  and  was  senior  Vice-President  of  the 
American  Medical  Association  in  1891-92. 

He  did  the  Caesarean  section  on  the  wife  of  his 
second  son,  Willis  P.  King,  Jr.,  at  Nevada,  Missouri,  on 


/^3».  f.J%^ 


DR.  HOMER  I.   O STROM,  :cq 

March  25,  1S95.  The  cause  necessitating  the  operation 
was  depression  of  pubis — the  antero-posterior  diameter  of 
the  superior  strait  being  only  about  two  and  three-quarters 
inches.  The  patient  died  four  days  later  on  account  of 
impaction  of  bowels — the  operation  not  Deing  followed  by 
any  fever  or  septic  trouble.  The  child  (which  Dr.  King's 
wife  is  raising)  is  now  nearly  eight  months  old  and  is  a 
healthy,  fine  boy. 

Dr.  King  is  prepossessing  in  appearance,  with  a  "happy, 
amiable  expression  of  countenance,  at  the  same  time  not 
devoid  of  determination  of  character.  He  possesses  a 
large  amount  of  personal  magnetism,  is  a  natural  genius, 
with  a  heart  overflowing  with  kindness  and  sympathy,  and 
his  generosity  is  proverbial.  He  is  remarkable  for  his 
great  flow  of  wit  and  humor,  being  versatile  and  quick  at 
repartee.  His  nature  is  genial,  and  he  has  the  happy 
faculty  of  making  many  life-long  friends  who  appreciate 
his  true  worth. 

There  have  been  born  to  him  five  sons  and  two  daughters, 
of  whom  four  sons  and  one  daughter  have  grown  to  man- 
hood and  womanhood. 


HOMER   I.    OSTROM,  M.D., 

NEW    YORK    CITY,    N.    Y. 

Dr.  Homer  Irvin  Ostrom  was  born  in  Goshen,  Orange 
County,  New  York,  February  16,  1852.  He  descended 
from  a  long  line  of  professional  men,  representing  the  bar, 
the  church,  and  medicine,  on  both  his  father's  and 
mother's  side.  The  talents  which  have  enabled  him  to 
make  such  rapid  strides  in  his  profession  have  been  the 
development  from  a  trained  ancestry.  His  paternal  grand- 
father was  the  Rev.  James  I.  Ostrom,  a  prominent  Presby- 
terian clergyman  formerly  of  New  York  City,  who  made 


j6o  dr.  homer  i.  ostrom. 

his  mark  in  the  early  part  of  the  century.  His  father, 
Dr.  Joshua  Ward  Ostrom,  began  the  practice  of  medicine 
in  New  York  City,  and,  shortly  adopting  the  homoeopathic 
system,  subsequently  removed  to  Goshen,  where  he  still 
resides,  a  vigorous  example  of  the  promoters  of  the  new 
school,  when  it  was  more  than  a  labor  of  love  to  advocate 
its  principles.  Dr.  Ostrom's  mother  was  Miss  Emily 
Charlotte  Gedney,  daughter  of  Dr.  Eleazer  Gedney,  of 
Newburgh-on-Hudson,  a  physician  of  note  in  Orange 
County,  and  was  first  cousin  to  John  Quincy  Adams. 
Her  mother  was  a  daughter  of  General  Bailey,  of  Revolu- 
tionary fame. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  received  his  education  at 
private  schools  and  with  tutors,  and  was  early  imbued 
with  the  truth  of  the  curative  law  of  similars.  In  1871 
his  life-hope  sprang  strongly  within  him  and  he  entered 
the  New  York  Homoeopathic  Medical  College,  from  which 
he  was  graduated  in  1873. 

Against  discouragements,  and  in  the  face  of  obstacles 
which  few  young  men  would  have  had  the  courage  to 
encounter  or  the  ability  to  overcome,  Dr.  Ostrom,  with 
the  determination  and  fixedness  of  purpose  which  have 
marked  his  course  through  life,  decided  to  remain  in  New 
York  City  and  devote  himself  ultimately  to  the  practice 
of  surgery.  Believing  that  every  specialist  should  first 
have  the  advantage  of  general  practice,  he  entered  upon 
this  part  of  his  profession  with  characteristic  ardor,  and 
soon  built  up  a  practice  among  the  best  classes  of  New 
York  society.  As  early  as  it  was  practicable  for  one 
dependent  upon  his  own  energies  for  advancement,  Dr. 
Ostrom  withdrew  from  general  practice  and  devoted  him- 
self to  operative  surgery  with  a  thoroughness  which  is  a 
prominent  trait  in  his  character ;  and  better  to  equip  him- 
self for  the  noble  branch  of  the  profession  which  he  had 
chosen,  Dr.  Ostrom  for  several  years  passed  his  summers 
in  Europe  studying  the  methods  of  the  principal  operators. 


DR.  HOMER  I.   O STROM.  j5z 

Nothing  has  seemed  too  much  or  too  little  for  him  to 
learn,  for,  while  holding  radical  and  decided  opinions,  Dr. 
Ostrom  has  kept  himself  abreast  with  his  times,  and  is  con- 
stantly reaching  out  for  something  better  than  that  which 
he  has  already  attained.  He  is  always  ready  to  adopt  new 
methods  and  views,  and  is  willing  upon  good  reasons  to 
change  those  which  he  previously  held. 

Though  a  successful  and  brilliant  general  operator,  his 
almost  phenomenal  results  in  abdominal  surgery  have 
within  the  past  few  years  brought  him  a  large  clientage  in 
this  department  of  surgery,  and  determined  him  in  adopt- 
ing this  as  his  special  work.  Here  his  keen  insight  and 
powers  of  observation ;  his  rapid  processes  of  thought, 
what  he  is  wont  to  call  to  his  students,  "unconscious  cere- 
bration"; his  delicate  touch ;  his  deep  sympathy  with  the 
sufferings,  mental  and  physical,  which  such  disorders  en- 
tail; and  his  firmness  of  character,  have  added  largely  to 
his  popularity  and  his  control  of  patients,  which  in  turn 
becomes  an  element  of  success. 

Dr.  Ostrom's  abdominal  surgery  includes  operations  on 
every  organ  in  the  abdomen.  In  the  winter  of  1894  he 
removed  successfully  a  tumor  of  the  pancreas,  which  some 
other  well-known  surgeons  had  failed  to  remove.  This 
was  one  of  the  first  operations  of  the  kind  ever  done  in 
this  country.  His  operations  on  the  stomach — pylorec- 
tomy  and  gastrotomy — the  gall-bladder,  and  the  liver, 
have  been  most  successful.  He  has  several  times,  both 
for  the  removal  of  tumors  and  in  the  course  of  other 
operations,  resected  the  intestines;  in  one  case  of  appendi- 
citis the  condition  demanded  removal  of  several  feet  of 
the  ileum ;  this  case,  in  which  rupture  had  taken  place 
before  the  operation,  recovered. 

A  large  proportion  of  Dr.  Ostrom's  abdominal  oper- 
ations are  on  the  uterus  and  its  appendages.  His  ovari- 
otomies, including  oophorectomies,  show  a  mortality  of  2 
per  cent.;  his  average  time  for  performing  the  latter  oper- 

VOL.  II.  —  II 


X62  DR.  HOMER  I.   O STROM. 

ation  being  ten  minutes.  Dr.  Ostrorn  has  long  since 
abandoned  the  use  of  the  clamp  and  the  external  treatment 
of  the  pedicle  in  his  abdominal  hysterectomies,  his 
method  being  to  remove  the  entire  uterus,  closing  the 
abdominal  wound,  and  when  necessary  using  the  vagina 
for  drainage.  This  method  has  in  Dr.  Ostrom's  hands  re- 
duced the  mortality  in  abdominal  hysterectomy  to  4  per 
cent. 

Dr.  Ostrom's  vaginal  hysterectomies,  or,  as  he  prefers  to 
call  the  operation,  vaginal  hystero-oophorectomy,  illustrate 
in  a  high  degree  his  facility  and  rapidity  of  manipulation 
and  skill  in  meeting  unlooked-for  difficulties.  In  this,  as 
in  all  his  abdominal  operations,  he  attaches  special  impor- 
tance to  restoring  the  continuity  of  the  peritoneum,  and 
it  is  a  matter  of  astonishment  to  see  him  make  a  vaginal 
hystero-oophorectomy,  tie  all  arteries,  and  sew  together 
the  peritoneum  in  fifteen  minutes.  Dr.  Ostrom's  last  one 
hundred  cases  contain  two  deaths. 

As  an  operator,  Dr.  Ostrom's  characteristics  are  neat- 
ness, rapidity,  exactness,  simplicity  of  manipulation,  and 
the  use  of  few  instruments.  The  previous  treatment  and 
surroundings  of  the  patient  are  under  his  direct  supervis- 
ion, and  controlled  by  a  system  as  perfect  as  it  is  unusual ; 
the  patient  comes  to  the  operation  in  a  good  condition, 
and  undergoes  during  it  the  minimum  of  shock  and 
danger. 

Dr.  Ostrom's  diagnosis  is  rapid,  and  in  frequent  con- 
sultations found  to  be  accurate  and  incisive.  His  habits 
as  a  student  have  never  been  laid  aside,  and  his  powers  of 
complete  absorption  enable  him  to  grasp  the  points  of  a 
case  with  certainty  and  dispatch. 

As  much  of  his  work  in  the  operating-room  is  original, 
Dr.  Ostrom  has  invented  a  number  of  instruments  pecu- 
liarly adapted  to  his  needs ;  his  corkscrew  for  lifting  the 
tumor  out  in  abdominal  hysterectomy,  and  his  uterine 
volsella  for  vaginal  hysterectomy,  together  with  the  pecu- 


DR.   HOMER  I.    OSTROM. 


163 


liar  handle  needles  to  be  used  in  the  same  operation  for 
sewing  the  peritoneum,  are  recognized  as  valuable  addi- 
tions to  the  abdominal  surgeon's  armamentarium. 

Dr.  Ostrom  performs  the  larger  proportion  of  his  oper- 
ations in  his  "Private  Surgical  Hospital,"  an  institution 
which  he  has  built  and  thoroughly  equipped  to  meet  the 
requirements  of  that  class  of  patients  who  desire  hospital 
care,  but  wish  something  more  private  and  exclusive  than 
can  be  obtained  in  larger  hospitals.  Dr.  Ostrom's  hos- 
pital is  one  of  the  most  complete  of  its  kind  in  New  York. 
His  operating-room  is  a  model  for  aseptic  work,  and  his 
nurses  receive  especial  training  from  him  before  they  are 
admitted  to  care  for  his  cases,  thus  insuring  the  most  ad- 
vanced surgical  work,  in  conformity  with  his  individual 
application  of  it. 

Dr.  Ostrom  is  a  constant  and  thoughtful  contributor  to 
medical  literature  on  surgical  subjects.  One  of  his  early 
principles  was  to  help  the  profession  in  every  possible 
manner,  and  if  his  pen  or  advice  can  be  of  service  to 
any  other  practitioner,  it  is  frankly  and  freely  given.  He 
is  the  author  of  a  Treatise  on  the  Surgical  Diseases  of  the 
Brain,  and  also  of  one  on  Epithelioma  of  the  Mouth.  He 
is  a  member  of  the  American  Institute  of  Homoeopathy ; 
of  the  Homoeopathic  Medical  State  Society  ;  of  the  New 
York  County  Medical  Society  ;  of  the  Medico-Chirurgical 
Society ;  of  the  Academy  of  Pathological  Science ;  of  the 
Clinical  Club  ;  and  is  one  of  the  few  American  Fellows  of 
the  British  Gynaecological  Society.  He  is  Professor  of  Ab- 
dominal Surgery  in  the  Metropolitan  Po:t  Graduate  School 
of  Medicine,  and,  besides  the  exactions  of  a  large  private 
surgical  practice,  is  Visiting  Surgeon  to  the  Metropolitan 
City  Hospital.  His  work  in  these  public  hospitals  excites 
much  interest  in  the  profession,  and  there  are  constant 
applications  to  be  present  at  his  operations,  and  for  the 
position  of  his  clinical  assistant.  Through  this  work  the 
name  of  Dr.  Ostrom  is  well  known.     He  is  often  sought 


164 


DR.  F.    T.  BICKXELL. 


in  consultation,  and  is  frequently  called  to  operate  in 
other  cities,  and  upon  patients  sent  to  him  from  all  parts 
of  the  country. 

In  spite  of  his  close  application  to  the  duties  of  his  pro- 
fession, Dr.  Ostrom  is  a  most  genial  companion,  and 
during  his  leisure  hours  and  in  his  travels  he  has  gathered 
about  him  books,  pictures,  and  objects  of  interest  that 
indicate  a  cultivated  and  refined  taste.  His  library  is  an 
extensive  and  valuable  one — for  he  is  an  omnivorous 
reader — and  no  pains  are  spared  to  furnish  his  consulting- 
room  with  every  appliance  for  his  professional  work.  His 
charity  is  large,  and  his  generous  aid  is  never  withheld 
from  a  suffering  man  or  woman  because  they  cannot 
remunerate  him.  He  takes  the  most  kindly  interest  in 
men  younger  than  himself  in  the  profession,  and  never 
fails  to  give  them  valuable  advice  and  assistance. 

In  1877  Dr.  Ostrom  married  Miss  Sara  Conant,  youngest 
daughter  of  the  late  Mr.  Claudius  B.  Conant,  of  New  York 
City.     They  have  two  children,  a  daughter  and  a  son. 

It  is  to  men  like  Dr.  Ostrom,  who  so  happily  combine 
the  thought  of  the  scholar,  the  earnestness  of  the  student, 
the  kindness  of  the  philanthropist,  and  the  courage  of  a 
surgeon,  with  the  courtesy,  breeding,  and  culture  of  a 
gentleman,  that  America  points  to  when  she  proudly  bids 
the  world,  "  Behold  my  sons  !" 


F..  T.  BICKNELL,  M.D., 

LOS    ANGELES,   CAL. 

Dr.  Frederick  Thompson  Bicknell  belongs  to  one  of 
the  oldest  families  in  America.  So  far  as  is  now  known, 
all  of  the  name  now  living  in  this  country  are  traceable  to 
Zachary  and  Agnes  Bicknell,  who,  with  their  son,  John, 
and  servant,  John  Kitchen,  sailed  from  England  in  the 
spring  of  1635,  and  landed  at  Wessaguscus,  now  Wey- 


$?,  7./3/e^U*£e. 


DR.  F.   T.  BICKNELL. 


I65 


mouth,  within  the  limits  of  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony,  in 
the  summer  of  that  year,  with  the  Rev.  Joseph  Hull  and 
hundreds  of  others,  mostly  from  the  counties  of  Somerset 
and  Dorset,  in  the  southwest  part  of  England.  From  this 
little  family  has  sprung  a  numerous  progeny  scattered 
over  all  parts  of  the  country. 

Dr.  Frederick  T.  Bicknell  is  the  son  of  Nathaniel  and 
Fanny  Bicknell,  both  his  parents  being  descended  from 
English  ancestors. 

To  the  present  day  there  is  an  association  in  Boston, 
Mass.,  called  the  "Bicknell  Family  Association,"  which 
meets  yearly  there  in  commemoration  of  the  Bicknell 
family.  This  association  was  organized  in  1880.  Its 
President  is  Mr.  Thomas  W.  Bicknell,  of  Boston,  who  is 
the  editor  of  The  New  England  Journal  of  Education ;  the 
Secretary  and  Treasurer  is  Mr.  Robert  T.  Bicknell,  of  200 
Devonshire  Street ;  and  the  Corresponding  Secretary  is 
Mr.  Alfred  Bicknell,  of  33  Milk  Street,  Boston,  Mass. 
At  the  close  of  the  meeting  and  exercises  the  family 
proceed  on  foot  and  in  carriages  to  view  the  site  of  the 
homestead  of  the  first  parents,  Zachary  and  Agnes. 

In  the  year  1852  Dr.  Bicknell's  father  moved  to  Jeffer- 
son County,  Wisconsin,  where  he  soon  became  a  prosperous 
and  enterprising  agriculturist,  occupying  a  prominent  posi- 
tion as  one  of  the  leading  citizens  of  the  county.  It 
was  there  that  the  subject  of  this  sketch  received  his  early 
education  in  the  district  common  schools  of  the  county  in 
which  he  resided.  Being  naturally  fond  of  his  books  and 
studious  he  readily  grasped  the  opportunity  afforded  him 
of  receiving  a  thorough  English  education. 

At  the  age  of  seventeen  years  he  entered  the  "Albion 
Academy,"  attending  the  fall  terms,  and  teaching  in  a 
district  school  during  the  winter  months.  When  the  Civil 
War  was  proclaimed  between  the  North  and  the  South  he 
gave  up  his  school  to  enlist  as  a  soldier  in  the  army,  being 
then  but  nineteen  years  of  age.     For  three  years  he  was 


!66  DR.  F    T.  BIC KNELL. 

in  active  service,  remaining  with  his  company  until  the 
close  of  the  Rebellion. 

He  then  returned  to  his  home  in  Wisconsin,  and  after 
spending  a  year  with  his  father,  who  was  at  that  time  an 
invalid,  he  choose  his  life  profession,  deciding  to  study 
medicine  and  become  a  physician  and  surgeon.  Entering 
the  Wisconsin  State  University  at  Madison,  he  remained 
there  two  years  and  applied  himself  closely  to  his  studies. 
He  then  entered  the  office  of  Dr.  John  Favill,  of  the  same 
city,  as  a  medical  student,  remaining  with  him  for  some 
time;  he  then  attended  the  Rush  Medical  College  at 
Chicago,  Illinois,  where  he  received  his  degree  in  the  year 
1870. 

After  graduating  with  high  honors  he  at  once  located  in 
Neosho,  Missouri,  where  he  associated  himself  with  an  old 
and  prominent  physician,  Dr.  L.  W.  Wills,  and  remained 
there  until  the  fall  of  1873. 

During  his  residence  in  Neosho  he  was  married  to  Miss 
Etta  E.  Cooper,  whom  he  knew  in  his  early  boyhood 
days  when  he  resided  in  Wisconsin.  A  daughter  was  born 
to  them,  but  by  her  birth  the  Doctor  was  deprived  of  a 
lovely  and  faithful  wife.  As  the  result  of  this  heavy  afflic- 
tion he  decided  to  leave  this  field  of  practice,  and  to 
partly  divert  his  mind  and  better  his  professional  advan- 
tages he,  in  company  with  his  old  preceptor,  spent  the 
winter  of  1874  in  New  York,  where  various  opportunities 
were  offered  him  to  improve  his  surgical  knowledge  as  a 
clinical  student  of  such  eminent  men  as  J.  Marion  Sims,  E. 
Peaslee,  T.  Gaillard  Thomas,  and  Thomas  Addis  Emmet ; 
also  general  surgeons,  as  Lewis  A.  Sayre,  Markoe,  Sands, 
Hamilton,  and  the  celebrated  old  Drs.  Wood,  Valentine 
Mott,  and  others  of  equal  eminence. 

During  the  winter  that  Dr.  Bicknell  spent  in  New  York 
City  as  a  student  it  was  his  pleasure  and  privilege  to  see 
each  one  of  the  above-named  surgeons  operate  repeatedly. 

After  completing  his  clinical  course  there  he  removed  to 


DR.  F.    T.  BICKNELL. 


167 


Los  Angeles,  California,  where  he  remained  about  three 
months,  when  he  was  appointed  as  surgeon  and  physician 
to  "  Surprise  Valley  Mill  and  Mining  Company,"  situated 
at  Panamint,  California,  which  position  he  creditably  filled 
for  over  two  years. 

He  then  located  in  Independence,  the  county  seat  of 
Inyo  County,  Cal.,  engaging  in  general  practice,  estab- 
lishing a  very  extensive  practice  throughout  the  entire 
country,  many  of  his  patients  travelling  hundreds  of  miles 
to  cor.  suit  him  and  receive  medical  and  surgical  treatment. 

In  1 88 1  he  returned  to  Los  Angeles  to  visit  his  only 
brother,  Judge  J.  D.  Bicknell,  who  is  a  prominent  lawyer 
in  that  city,  and  his  only  sister,  Mrs.  James  Eastwistle ; 
he  remained  there  about  a  month,  when  he  went  to  his 
former  home  in  Wisconsin,  where  his  only  child,  a  promis- 
ing daughter,  was  residing.  It  was  during  this  visit  to  his 
childhood  home  that  he  became  engaged  to  Miss  Carrie 
E.  Fargo,  of  Lake  Miles,  Wisconsin.  He  again  returned 
to  Los  Angeles,  Cal.,  bringing  with  him  his  daughter,  and 
it  was  then  that  he  decided  to  locate  permanently  in  this 
beautiful  city  of  sun  and  flowers,  where  he  has  achieved 
prominence  as  a  successful  practitioner. 

His  second  marriage  took  place  in  San  Francisco,  in 
December  of  1882,  and  has  proved  a  happy  and  congenial 
union. 

The  Doctor  has  filled  several  important  positions  in  the 
medical  profession.  He  has  been  President  of  the  County 
Medical  Society,  was  also  President  of  the  Southern 
California  Medical  Society,  and  was  the  first  Professor 
of  Gynaecology  in  the  Medical  Department  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Southern  California,  which  position  he  held  for 
several  years,  ultimately  being  compelled  to  offer  his  resig- 
nation on  account  of  overwork  caused  by  his  extensive 
practice,  which  greatly  impaired  his  health. 

The  Doctor  is  a  thorough  and  skilful  surgeon,  and 
although  among  the  leading  gynecologists  of  California, 


j  68  DR.  MARIE  B.    WERNER. 

he  does  not  confine  his  entire  practice  to  surgery,  but  has 
a  very  extensive  general  practice. 

He  is  a  rapid  operator — cautious,  conscientious,  and  suc- 
cessful ;  his  record  in  abdominal  work  is  extensive  and 
good.  Much  of  his  success  can  be  attributed  to  his  extreme 
neatness  and  close  observance  of  antiseptic  rules. 

The  Doctor  is  genial  and  cordial  in  manner,  kind  and 
gentle  in  the  sick-room,  and  beloved  and  respected  by  all 
who  have  the  pleasure  of  his  acquaintance. 


MARIE  B.  WERNER,  M.D., 

PHILADELPHIA,   PA. 

Dr.  Marie  Bersania  Werner  was  born  in  Philadelphia, 
September  21,  1857.  Her  father,  Charles  Augustus  Ferdi- 
nand Werner,  and  her  mother,  Caroline  Wolpert,  left 
Germany  for  America  during  1848;  meeting  some  years 
later  in  Philadelphia  they  were  married  and  had  but  one 
child,  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 

The  doctor  received  her  early  education  in  public  and 
private  schools  of  this  city.  She  commenced  the  study  of 
medicine  at  the  Woman's  Medical  College  of  Pennsylvania 
in  the  spring  of  1S77,  attended  three  courses  of  lectures, 
and  was  graduated  from  there  in  March,  1880.  She 
served  her  time  as  interne  in  the  Woman's  Hospital,  and 
later  as  clinician  in  the  same  institution  for  some  years, 
having  entered  into  private  practice  immediately  after  the 
expiration  of  her  term  as  interne.  The  doctor  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  following  societies :  American  Medical  Asso- 
ciation, Pennsylvania  State  Medical  Association,  Philadel- 
phia County  Medical  Society,  Philadelphia  Obstetrical 
Society,  Philadelphia  Neurological  Society,  Alumni  Asso- 
ciation of  the  Woman's  Medical  College  of  Pennsylvania. 
Many  valuable  and  interesting  papers  have  been  written 


&y^z^C??f.3> 


DR.  MARIE  B.    WERNER.  jgg 

and  published  by  the  doctor,  of  which  the  following  is  a 
partial  list : 

"Battey's  Operation  for  Congenital  Malformation." 
Journal  of  Obstetrics,  1884,  vol.  xvii. 

"  Operation  for  Abdominal  Fistula,  with  Removal  of 
Eleven  Gall-stones."  Medical  and  Surgical  Reporter, 
Phila.,  October  23,  1886. 

Paper  read  before  the  Alumni  Association  of  the  Woman's 
Medical  College,  March,  1890,  entitled  "Twenty  Con- 
secutive Abdominal  Sections,  with  Remarks." 

"  Fistulous  Escape  of  Ligatures  after  Pelvic  Operations." 
Journal  of  American  Medical  Association,  September  20, 
1890. 

"A  Retrospect  of  Treatment  of  Pelvic  Inflammations." 
Report  of  the  Alumni  Association,  1891. 

"  Comparative  Data  in  the  Treatment  of  Uterine  Tu- 
mors."    Annals  of  Gynecology,  July,  1891. 

"Analysis  of  Some  Statistics  on  Supravaginal  Hyster- 
ectomy." Read  before  the  Obstetrical  Society  of  Phila- 
delphia, September  1,  1891. 

"  Who  Shall  Do  Abdominal  Surgery?"  American  Jour- 
nal of  Obstetrics,  1892,  vol.  xxv.  No.  5. 

"Some  Contraindications  to  the  Use  of  Opiates." 
Read  before  the  Philadelphia  County  Medical  Society, 
January  27,  1892. 

"Nephrectomy  in  a  Child  of  Two  Years;  Recovery." 
Therapeutic  Gazette,  November  15,  1892. 

"Specialism  and  the  Insane."  Medical  and  Surgical 
Reporter,  Philadelphia,  December,  1892. 

As  an  operator  in  the  field  of  abdominal  surgery  the 
young  doctor's  more  active  career  began  in  1883,  when  she 
performed  a  oophorectomy  in  an  interesting  case  of  congeni- 
tal malformation.  The  patient,  a  girl  of  eighteen  years, 
had  suffered  much  from  headache,  dizziness,  and  pain  in 
the  back,  and  had  never  menstruated.  Physical  examina- 
tion showed  an  absence  of  the  vagina,  and  a  rectal  ex- 


jjq  DR.  MARIE  B.    WERNER. 

ploration  proved  an  absence  of  the  uterus.  On  section  a 
well-developed  ovary  and  tube  were  found  on  the  left  side, 
together  with  a  small  mass  of  fibres  of  uterine  tissue, 
representing  the  uterus,  and  on  the  right  side  the  tube  and 
ovary  were  entirely  rudimentary. 

This  was  but  the  first  of  a  series  of  cases,  many  of 
of  them  important  and  involving  capital  operations. 

In  1884,  Dr.  Werner  visited  the  principal  medical 
schools  of  Europe,  and  spent  eighteen  months  in  special 
surgical  studies  under  Professors  von  Billroth,  Germany; 
von  Frisch,  von  Hacker,  and  Salter,  of  Vienna ;  Schroe- 
der,  Kiistner,  and  Hahn,  of  Berlin;  Sanger,  of  Leipsic ; 
Bruns,  of  Tubingen  ;  and  Apostoli,  of  Paris. 

She  was  the  first  surgeon  of  her  sex  who  was  allowed 
'to  work  in  Professor  von  Frisch' s  clinic  in  Vienna. 

In  1 89 1  she  again  visited  Europe  and  studied  the  oper- 
ative methods  of  Gersung,  of  Vienna;  Sanger,  of  Leipsic; 
Bantock,  of  London  ;  and  Savage,  of  Birmingham. 

She  has  given  considerable  attention  to  gynaecology  and 
its  connection  with  nervous  diseases  and  their  treatment, 
in  which  she  has  achieved  a  high  reputation.  In  the 
treatment  of  insane  female  patients  Dr.  Werner  has  a 
strong  conviction  of  the  necessity  for  more  careful  study 
of  each  individual  case  than  is  usually  accorded.  She 
does  not  accept  the  theory  held  by  some  alienists  that 
insanity  is  always  an  expression  of  destructive  changes  in 
nerve-cells,  and,  therefore,  incurable — a  theory  too  com- 
monly made  manifest  in  practice.  Close  professional 
research  and  observation  have  led  her  to  believe  that  the 
mental  disturbances  of  many  insane  patients  (who  are  re- 
ceived into  an  asylum,  and  kept  under  restriction  for  an 
indefinite  period,  or  for  the  remainder  of  life)  are  often 
traceable  to  pelvic  diseases  or  injuries  in  which  careful 
study  and  well-directed  treatment  would  frequently  ameli- 
orate, if  not  produce  a  cure.  Such  results  having  been 
obtained  in   her  private  practice,  led  her  to  apply  for  a 


a 


DR.  J.  H,  ETHERIDGE.  lyl 

wider  field  of  investigation,  which  was  accorded  in  1892 
at  the  State  Hospital  for  the  Insane  at  Norristown  for  a 
limited  period  of  six  weeks.  During  this  time  thirty  cases 
were  examined  and  carefully  studied  and  treated.  Two 
of  this  group,  suffering  from  grave  pelvic  disease,  were 
operated  on  by  her  and  were  mentally  and  physically 
cured  ;  one  in  five  weeks  and  the  other  in  several  months. 
This  work  has  been  reported  in  her  paper  on  "  Specialism 
and  the  Insane."  In  the  intervals  of  a  busy  professional 
life  Dr.  Werner  has  contributed  a  number  of  articles  on 
medical  subjects  to  various  medical  journals,  and  has  also 
translated  several  of  the  works  of  French  authors.  She 
attended  the  meeting  of  the  American  Medical  Association 
at  Nashville,  Tenn.,  in  1890,  as  the  first  woman  delegate, 
from  the  Philadelphia  County  Society,  who  read  a  paper 
before  the  obstetrical  section  of  the  Association  on  "Fis- 
tulous Escape  of  Ligatures  after  Pelvic  Operations." 

Doctor  Werner  was  the  first  woman  to  read  a  paper 
before  the  Obstetrical  Society  of  Philadelphia,  of  which 
she  is  a  member,  and,  moreover,  she  was  the  first  woman 
member  to  sign  its  Constitution. 


J.  H.  ETHERIDGE,  M.D., 

CHICAGO,    ILL. 

James  Henry  Etheridge,  of  Chicago,  111.,  is  a  native 
of  the  Empire  State,  being  born  in  St.  Johnsville,  Mont- 
gomery County,  March  20,  1844.  His  father,  Dr.  Francis 
B.  Etheridge,  was  born  in  the  town  of  Herkimer,  same 
State,  and  was  a  son  of  a  Revolutionary  soldier,  and  the 
descendant  in  the  fourth  generation  of  English  parents. 
The  mother  of  our  subject,  Fanny  Easton,  was  a  native  of 
Connecticut  and  the  sixth  generation  from  England.  Dr. 
Francis  B.  Etheridge  was  a  practising  physician  forty-seven 


iy2  DR-  J-  H-  ETHERIDGE. 

years.  He  moved  to  Hastings,  Minn.,  in  i860,  and  was 
a  surgeon  in  a  Minnesota  regiment  during  the  Civil  War, 
dying  in  Hastings  in  1871.  The  subject  of  our  sketch, 
who  is  a  prominent  physician  in  Chicago,  and  a  member 
of  the  Faculty  of  Rush  Medical  College,  received  most  of 
his  education  in  his  native  State,  and  had  some  experience 
in  teaching  a  winter  school.  He  was  prepared  in  mathe- 
matics and  Latin  to  enter  the  junior  year  in  Harvard  Col- 
lege, but  the  breaking  out  of  the  war,  and  the  absence  of 
his  father  in  his  country's  service,  disarranged  the  son's 
plans,  and  he  concluded  to  go  no  further  in  his  classical 
studies,  but  turn  his  attention  to  medicine.  He  read  four 
years  with  his  father,  attended  three  full  winter  courses  at 
Rush  Medical  College,  Chicago,  and  was  graduated  in 
March,  1869.  In  preparing  for  practice  he  had  taken 
careful  and  exhaustive  courses,  and  on  receiving  his  medi- 
cal degree  stepped  almost  immediately  into  a  fair  business 
in  the  thriving  village  of  Evanston,  near  Chicago,  where 
he  remained  between  one  and  two  years.  At  the  end  of 
that  period  he  made  a  tour  of  Europe,  walking  the  hos- 
pitals of  some  of  the  largest  cities,  spending  several  months 
in  London  alone.  On  returning,  Dr.  Etheridge  settled  in 
Chicago,  July  31,  1871,  and  was  elected  to  the  Chair  of 
Therapeutics,  Materia  Medica,  and  Jurisprudence  in  Rush 
Medical  College.  This  chair  he  retained  until  1889, 
when  he  was  elected  Professor  of  Gynaecology,  the  suc- 
cessor of  the  late  William  H.  Byford.  In  the  year  1892 
he  was  also  elected  to  fill  the  Chair  of  Obstetrics,  making 
his  professorship  in  Rush  Medical  College  that  of  Obstet- 
rics and  Gynaecology,  the  position  which  he  holds  at 
present.  Dr.  Etheridge  was  elected  President  of  the 
Chicago  Medical  Society  in  1886,  and  President  of  the 
Chicago  Gynaecological  Society  in  1890.  He  is  at  present 
the  Professor  of  Gynaecology  in  the  Chicago  Polyclinic. 
He  is  Attending  Gynaecologist  to  the  Polyclinic  Hospital 
and  to  the  Presbyterian  Hospital,  and  is  Consulting  Gynse- 


DR.  FERNAND  HENROTIN. 


173 


cologist  to  the  St.  Joseph  Hospital,  Chicago.  He  is  a  con- 
stant contributor  to  the  medical  journals  of  the  day,  and 
is  a  member,  not  only  of  the  Chicago  City  societies,  but 
of  the  State,  National,  International,  and  Pan-American 
Medical  Associations.  He  is  also  a  foundation  and  life 
member  of  the  International  Association  of  Obstetrics  and 
Gynaecology,  whose  first  meeting  was  held  in  Brussels  in 
September,  1892.  Dr.  Etheridge  was  married  June,  1870, 
to  Harriet  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  the  late  Heman  G. 
Powers,  of  Evanstbn,  111.,  and  they  have  two  children, 
both  daughters. 

FERNAND  HENROTIN,  M.D., 

CHICAGO,    ILL. 

Autobiography  of  Fernand  Henrotin,  M.D.  Dr. 
Henrotin  was  born-  in  Brussels,  Belgium,  in  1847,  and 
came  to  Chicago  when  nine  years  of  age.  His  father, 
Joseph  F.  Henrotin,  was  a  physician  of  ability  and  ex- 
perience, and  was  a  private  student  of  Seutin,  the  cele- 
brated Belgian  surgeon  who  first  introduced  starch  ban- 
dages in  the  treatment  of  fractures.  Dr.  Henrotin,  Sr., 
came  to  Chicago  in  1848,  and  was  familiarly  known  as  the 
"French  Cholera  Doctor"  from  his  acknowledged  expe- 
rience in  the  treatment  of  the  scourge.  The  grandfather, 
Clement  Henrotin,  was  also  a  physician,  and  practised 
medicine  continuously  in  the  "Ardennes"  (mountainous 
region  in  the  western  part  of  Belgium)  for  seventy-five 
years,  dying  at  the  age  of  ninety-six,  having  attended  the 
sick  to  within  one  month  of  the  time  of  his  death.  He 
was  at  one  time  the  recipient  of  a  gold  medal  from  the 
Netherlands  Government  for  having  been  the  first  physi- 
cian in  his  section  to  draw  the  attention  of  medical  men 
to  the  value  of  powdered  cinchona  bark  in  the  treatment 
of  paludal  fevers.   After  graduating  from  the  Chicago  High 


174 


DR.  FERN  AND  HENROTIN. 


School,  Dr.  Fernand  Henrotin  attended  Rush  Medical  Col- 
ege  and  graduated  in  1868.  While  at  college  he  evinced 
no  particular  brilliancy  of  attainments,  but  was  known  as  a 
good  average  student,  learning  with  ease,  but  in  no  sense 
a  phenomenon  ;  a  little  too  fond  of  fun,  but  possessing  good 
sense.  As  a  member  of  the  Freshmen  Class  he  sat  in  the 
front  row  next  to  Prof.  Daniel  Brainard,  when  he  delivered 
his  last  lecture  on  cholera,  dying  from  the  disease  within 
twenty-four  hours.  During  the  last  term  and  the  following 
year  he  was  Prosector  to  the  Chair  of  Anatomy.  In  1872 
he  was  appointed  County  Physician,  a  position  he  occupied 
for  two  years.  Later  on  he  became  Examining  Surgeon 
to  the  Police  and  Fire  Departments,  Brigade  Surgeon  of 
the  Militia,  and  was  appointed  on  the  staff  of  the  County 
Hospital  as  well  as  the  Alexian  Brothers'  Hospital.  For 
twelve  years  he  was  Police  Surgeon,  and  for  twenty-one 
years  Surgeon  of  the  Fire  Department.  At  present  he  is 
authorized  to  use  the  following  titles  :  Professor  of  Gynae- 
cology at  the  Chicago  Polyclinic,  Senior  Surgeon  of  the 
Alexian  Brothers'  Hospital,  Attending  Gynaecologist  of  the 
St.  Luke's  Hospital,  Consulting  Gynaecologist  to  St. 
Joseph's  Hospital,  Second  Vice-President  of  the  American 
Gynaecological  Society,  Vice-President  of  the  Chicago 
Medical  Society,  ex  President  of  the  Chicago  Gynaecolog- 
ical Society,  Corresponding  Member  of  the  Belgian  Gynae- 
cological Society  and  the  Philadelphia  Obstetrical  Society, 
Secretary  General  for  America  of  the  International  Gynae- 
cological and  Obstetrical  Congress,  etc.  He  has  not 
written  very  much  and  it  is  all  in  short  articles  on  leading 
pertinent  questions.  These  articles  are  reasonably  good 
and  show  practical  knowledge  of  the  subject-matter.  He 
never  writes  until  he  has  had  the  necessary  experience. 
He  has  a  great  book  in  his  mind  and  is  dreaming  over  it, 
but  there  is  much  doubt  whether  it  will  ever  be  written 
because  he  is  too  busy  and  is  waiting  to  become  competent 
enough  to  write  it.     Almost  all  he  has  written  is  on  sub- 


DR.  FERN  AND  HENROTIN, 


175 


jects  pertaining  to  abdominal  surgery.  Among  these  may 
be  mentioned  "Circular  Enterorrhaphy,  with  Report  of 
Successful  Case,  1882  ;  "  "  Vaginal  Hysterectomy  for  Peri- 
uterine Suppurations,"  being  the  first  treatise  devoted  to 
this  subject  in  this  country  {American  Journal  of  Obstet- 
n'cSjNo.  4,  1892)  ;  a  practical  article  on  "Appendicitis," 
"Palliative  Operations  for  Fibroid  Tumors,"  "Vaginal 
Hysterectomy  for  Septic  Pelvic  Diseases,"  "Enterostomy 
and  Drainage  in  the  Treatment  of  Diffuse  Septic  Perito- 
nitis," etc. 

One  of  his  last  productions  on  the  "  Conservative  Sur- 
gical Treatment  of  Para-  and  Peri- uterine  Acute  Septic 
Diseases,"  read  in  May,  1895,  before  the  American  Gynae- 
cological Society,  was  extremely  well  received,  and  brought 
him  many  flattering  notices.  As  an  abdominal  surgeon  Dr. 
Henrotin  has  had  considerable  and  varied  experience.  He 
is  only  a  fairly  good  operator,  but  is  constantly  improving. 
In  the  spring  of  1895  he  had  the  singular  experience  of 
twice  ligating  the  posterior  branch  of  the  internal  iliac  in 
one  week,  following  it  up  with  ligation  of  the  common  iliac 
three  weeks  later,  all  three  being  cases  of  gunshot-wound 
of  the  abdomen,  and  only  the  last,  the  one  with  ligature 
of  the  common  iliac,  recovering.  This,  as  far  as  he  knows, 
is  the  only  successful  case  of  ligature  of  the  common  iliac 
for  gunshot-wound.  The  Doctor  is  very  partial  to  vagino- 
abdominal work  in  suitable  cases,  and  claims  to  have  been 
the  first  to  perform  vaginal  hysterectomy  for  pelvic  septic 
disease  in  this  country.  His  most  satisfactory  work,  how- 
ever, is  the  performance  of  conservative  operations  on 
both  acute  and  chronic  pelvic  disease  by  the  vaginal  route. 
He  prophesies  that,  ten  or  fifteen  years  hence,  when  un- 
prejudiced operators  occupy  the  positions  now  held  by 
many  of  our  leading  men,  and  the  technique  of  vaginal 
work  has  been  perfected,  a  very  much  larger  proportion  of 
what  is  now  done  abdominally  will  be  accomplished,  with 
much  better  results,  by  way  of  the  vagina. 


176 


DR.   C.  VON  HOFFMANN. 


Dr.  Henrotin  is  6  feet  tall,  weighs  200  pounds,  and  has 
not  lost  a  day  from  ill  health  in  the  twenty-eight  years  he 
has  been  engaged  in  active  practice.  He  is  most  happily 
married,  and  consequently  is  good  natured  and  has  no 
enemies.  He  will  not  run,  however,  and  on  a  few  rare  oc- 
casions has  been  known  to  put  up  a  very  reasonable  fight. 
He  believes  doctors  quarrel  entirely  too  much  without 
sufficient  cause  and  without  dignity.  He  does  not  believe 
that  competition  is  the  life  of  trade,  and  that  the  road  to 
success  lies  in  pulling  top-men  down  and  trampling  on 
them  in  climbing.  He  is  thoroughly  disgusted  when  read- 
ing articles  in  which  billingsgate  is  forcibly  injected,  and 
thinks  that  active,  determined,  but  chivalric  rivalry,  tem- 
pered by  the  remembrance  of  the  nobility  of  the  calling 
and  a  mutual  abhorrence  of  the  lie,  would  accomplish 
more  good  and  bring  to  the  profession  more  regard. 


C.  von  HOFFMANN,  M.D., 

SAN   FRANCISCO,    CAL. 

Dr.  C.  von  Hoffmann  was  born  near  Detmold,  Ger- 
many, February  10,  in  the  year  1852.  He  received  his 
early  education  in  Weisbaden  at  the  gymnasium ;  he  also 
studied  the  higher  branches  of  literature  in  Berlin  and  of 
medicine  in  Bonn  and  Leipsic,  where  he  passed  the  Staats 
examination  in  1874  and  1875.  ^n  May,  1875,  ne  was 
graduated  from  the  University  of  Leipsic,  having  taken  a 
complete  and  thorough  course,  not  only  in  the  various 
branches  of  surgery,  but  also  in  medicine. 

It  was  during  the  summer  of  1875  tnat  Dr.  von  Hoff- 
mann was  in  Zurich  with  Professor  Frankenhausen,  where 
he  gathered  much  valuable  and  scientific  knowledge  relat- 
ing to  his  profession. 

After  having  decided  to  come  to  America  he  selected 


/fa&Z££<jJ^ 


DR.  WILLIAM  H.   PARISH. 


177 


San  Francisco,  California,  as  his  future  home  and  field  of 
labor,  and  in  the  year  1876  he  permanently  located  there, 
where  he  now  ranks  among  the  leading  surgeons  in  that 
city.  For  about  ten  years  he  filled  the  position  of  gynae- 
cologist to  the  German  Hospital.  Later  he  was  consulting 
gynaecologist  to  the  same  hospital.  He  is  associate  pro- 
fessor of  gynaecology  in  the  Medical  Department  of  the 
University  of  California,  and  professor  of  gynaecology  in 
the  Post-graduate  Department  of  the  same  institution,  also 
physician  to  the  Alexander  Maternity  College  (Children's 
Hospital). 

Dr.  von  Hoffmann  is  a  member  of  San  Francisco  County 
Medical  Society,  Medical  Society  of  the  State  of  Cali- 
fornia, Academy  of  Medicine  of  San  Francisco,  San  Fran- 
cisco Gynaecological  Society,  and  Society  of  German 
Physicians. 

He  is  a  careful  and  skilful  operator,  with  remarkable 
success  in  abdominal  cases.  By  his  honorable  bearing  he 
has  won  the  esteem  of  the  community  in  which  he  resides, 
and  has  a  very  large  and  lucrative  practice. 

He  is  in  the  vigor  of  manhood  and  prime  of  life,  with 
many  years  of  usefulness  yet  before  him. 


WILLIAM   H.   PARISH,  M.D., 

PHILADELPHIA,    PA. 

William  H.  Parish  was  born  on  October  23,  1845, 
in  the  town  of  Holly  Springs,  Mississippi.  His  father, 
Rev.  C.  Parish,  was  a  Presbyterian  clergyman,  a  native  of 
Massachusetts,  a  graduate  of  Williams  College,  and  for  a 
number  of  years  President  of  Mississippi  College.  Dr. 
Parish's  mother  was  Miss  Catherine  Marr,  of  Scarborough, 
Maine. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  received  a  classical  education, 
VOL.  11.  — 12 


i78 


DR.   WILLIAM  H.  PARISH. 


largely  under  the  personal  instruction  of  his  father,  and  at 
Mississippi  College. 

In  1862,  when  he  was  in  the  junior  class,  the  College 
was  forced  to  close,  because  its  students,  about  three 
hundred  in  number,  had  entered  the  Confederate  Army. 

At  the  age  of  seventeen  Dr.  Parish  volunteered,  as  a 
private,  in  the  20th  Mississippi  Regiment,  in  the  Con- 
federate service.  At  Kennesaw  Mountain,  in  the  summer 
of  1864,  he  was  wounded  through  the  left  foot. 

After  the  close  of  the  Civil  War  he  entered  a  drug-store 
in  Clinton,  Miss.,  where  he  remained  for  about  three 
years. 

In  1868  he  accepted  an  offer  as  principal  of  a  boys' 
school  in  Texas,  but  when  about  to  start  from  Mississippi 
for  Texas  he  received  an  offer  on  the  part  of  his  aunt, 
Miss  Isabella  M.  Marr,  of  Maine,  to  the  effect  that  she 
would  meet  the  necessary  expense  attendant  upon  his 
study  of  medicine,  she  knowing  that  the  latter  had  been 
for  some  time  the  earnest  desire  of  her  nephew.  This 
generous  offer  was  gladly  accepted,  for  the  misfortunes 
of  war  had  left  Dr.  Parish's  family  in  Mississippi  without 
financial  resources. 

Attracted  by  the  reputation  of  the  great  surgeon,  Gross, 
William  H.  Parish  entered  the  Jefferson  Medical  College, 
and  from  this  institution  was  graduated  in  1870.  He  at 
once,  in  competitive  examination,  won  an  appointment 
as  Resident  Physician  in  the  Philadelphia  Hospital  and 
served  in  that  capacity  for  two  years,  having  been  re- 
elected. He  subsequently  was  elected  Obstetrician  and 
Gynaecologist  to  the  same  Hospital  and  served  as  such  for 
twelve  years. 

For  several  years  he  was  Chief  of  the  Gynaecological 
Clinic  of  the  Jefferson  Medical  College  Hospital,  and  at 
one  time  was  Professor  of  Gynaecology  in  the  Philadelphia 
Polyclinic.  These  positions  he  resigned  because  of  the 
demands  of  other  professional  work. 


DR.  WILLIAM  H.  PARISH. 


179 


Dr.  Parish  now  holds  the  following  hospital  positions : 
Gynecologist  and  President  of  the  Medical  Staff  at  St. 
Agnes's  Hospital,  Consulting  Surgeon  at  Kensington  Hos- 
pital, one  of  the  Consulting  Staff  at  the  Woman's  Hospital, 
Consulting  Obstetrician  at  the  Philadelphia  Lying-in 
Charity,  and  Gynaecologist  at  the  State  Hospital  for  the 
Insane  at  Wernersville,  Pa. 

Dr.  Parish  is  at  present  Professor  of  Anatomy  in  the 
Woman's  Medical  College  of  Pennsylvania,  and  also  Pro- 
fessor of  Obstetrics  in  the  Dartmouth  Medical  College, 
Hanover,  N.  H. 

He  is  a  member  of  various  societies,  namely,  the 
American  Gynsecological  Society,  of  which  he  has  been 
Vice-President;  the  Philadelphia  Obstetrical  Society,  of 
which  he  is  now  President,  having  been  recently  re-elected 
to  a  second  term  after  an  interval  of  several  years. 

He  is  also  a  member  of  the  College  of  Physicians  of 
Philadelphia,  of  the  Philadelphia  County  Medical  Society, 
of  the  American  Medical  Association,  and  of  the  Histor- 
ical Society  of  Pennsylvania. 

Dr.  Parish  is  a  busy  and  successful  abdominal  surgeon 
and  general  gynaecologist. 

He  has  repeatedly  contributed  with  his  pen  to  the 
proceedings  of  different  societies,  and  to  the  columns  of 
various  medical  journals. 

In  1876  Dr.  Parish  married  Miss  Isabel  N.  De  LaMotta, 
daughter  of  Dr.  Jacob  De  La  Motta,  formerly  a  prominent 
physician  of  Charleston,  S.  C.     His  wife  died  in  1891. 

He  has  one  son,  Benjamin  Dores  Parish. 


j3q  dr.  OSCAR  LeSEURE. 

OSCAR  Le  SEURE,  M.D., 

DETROIT,  MICH. 

Dr.  Oscar  Le  Seure  was  born  in  Danville,  Illinois,  Jan- 
uary 27,  1 85 1. 

His  early  education  was  obtained  in  the  common  schools 
of  his  native  place.  He  afterward  attended  the  "Univer- 
sity of  Michigan,"  and  from  early  childhood  his  desires 
were  to  be  a  "  doctor." 

In  the  year  1873  ne  was  graduated  from  the  Department 
of  Medicine  and  Surgery  of  the  University  of  Michigan. 
He  then  served  six  months  as  House  Surgeon  in  the 
"  United  States  Marine  Hospital,"  at  Detroit,  Michigan. 
He  took  a  degree  from  Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College, 
New  York,  March,  1874. 

He  then  returned  to  his  place  of  nativity,  Danville, 
Illinois,  to  prosecute  the  profession  of  his  choice,  and 
from  1874  until  June,  1886,  he  practised  medicine  and 
surgery  there,  establishing  a  well-deserved  reputation  as  a 
successful  practitioner.  Being  ambitious  to  become  a 
more  thorough  surgeon,  and  desirous  to  work  in  a  broader 
field  than  that  afforded  him  in  Danville,  Illinois,  he  went 
to  Europe  and  spent  one  year  in  the  study  of  surgery, 
and  six  months  of  that  time  was  on  the  staff  of  Paul 
Reclus  in  the  Hotel-Dieu,  Paris,  France,  where  he  ob- 
tained much  valuable  knowledge  relating  to  his  pro- 
fession. 

After  his  return  to  America  he  located  in  Detroit, 
Michigan,  in  1887,  giving  his  especial  attention  to  sur- 
gery and  gynaecology.  When  "Grace  Hospital"  was 
opened  in  Detroit  he  was  appointed  Surgeon  to  that  insti- 
tution, and  by  his  continuous  good  service  he  now  ranks 
as  senior  Surgeon  in  the  hospital. 

In  1892  he  again  went  abroad,  and  visited  hospitals  in 


DR.  J.  E.    COWLES.  lgl 

Edinburgh,  Scotland,  and  London,  England,  where,  from 
close  observation,  he  gathered  still  more  valuable  infor- 
mation, etc. 

In  February,  1895,  he  was  appointed  by  Governor  Rich 
a  member  of  the  Detroit  Board  of  Health.  In  June  of 
the  same  year  he  was  appointed  Professor  of  Surgery 
in  the  Homoeopathic  Department  of  the  University  of 
Michigan. 

In  May,  1894,  he  was  elected  President  of  the  Homoeo- 
pathic Society  of  the  State  of  Michigan.  He  is  a  member 
of  the  American  Institute  of  Homoeopathy,  and  of  several 
medical  societies. 


J.  E.   COWLES,  M.D., 

LOS    ANGELES,  CAL. 

Dr.  Josiah  Evans  Cowles  was  born  May  14,  1855,  on 
Hunting  Creek,  Yadkin  County,  North  Carolina,  near  the 
home  of  his  great  grandfather,  Captain  Andrew  Carson,  of 
Revolutionary  fame,  who,  by  the  way,  was  also  an  uncle  of 
the  celebrated  scout,  Kit  Carson. 

He  is  "the  son  of  Josiah  Cowles,  Jr.,  and  Mary  Evans 
Cowles,  and  the  grandson  of  Josiah  Cowles,  Sr.  (for  forty 
years  judge  of  Yadkin  County,  N.  C),  and  Nancy  Caroline 
Cowles,  daughter  of  Captain  Andrew  Carson.  The  father 
dying  when  the  son  was  but  three  and  one-half  years  of 
age,  it  devolved  upon  a  noble  and  devoted  mother  to  rear 
and  educate  her  two  children,  as  well  as  two  half-brothers, 
during  the  trying  times  of  the  great  civil  war  and  recon- 
struction period  immediately  succeeding.  The  better  to 
do  this  she  removed  to  Lenoir,  "  the  Athens  of  western 
North  Carolina,"  where  the  subject  of  our  sketch  was  edu- 
cated at  Finley  High  School. 

For  three  years  after  leaving  school  he  was  a  civil 
engineer,    and    after   declining  an   appointment  to  West 


t82  DR.  J.   E.    COWLES. 

Point,  on  account  of  frail  health,  began  his  preparatory 
medical  studies  by  attending  a  full  course  at  the  Maryland 
College  of  Pharmacy,  ana  a  special  course  in  analytical 
chemistry ;  immediately  after  which  he  entered  the  Uni- 
versity of  Maryland,  and  choose  to  take  a  three-years' 
course,  although  only  a  two-years'  term  was  then  required. 
The  last  year  he  spent  in  the  University  Hospital,  and  was 
graduated  with  distinction  March  6,  1880. 

Locating  in  historic  Edgefield,  South  Carolina,  he  pur- 
sued a  general  practice  for  seven  years. 

It  was  during  the  first  year  of  his  practice,  November, 
1880,  that  he  did  his  first  operation  for  appendicitis  by  a 
flickering  lamp  in  a  cabin,  among  the  sandhills  of  Edisto 
River,  a  gallon  of  horribly  fetid  pus  being  evacuated 
through  an  incision  over  McBurney's  tender  point  and  a 
counter-incision  in  the  right  loin,  a  perforated  drainage- 
tube  extending  from  one  point  to  the  other.  The  patient 
made  a  good  recovery,  after  having  been  given  over  to  die, 
and  gratitude  was  all  the  Doctor  ever  received  for  his 
services. 

In  1887  Dr.  Cowles  went  to  New  York  City  for  spe- 
cial study,  and  for  eighteen  months  profited  by  the 
teachings  of  the  best  surgeons  and  gynaecologists  in  the 
city.  For  the  greater  part  of  this  time  he  was  physician-in- 
charge  of  the  New  York  Lying-in  Asylum,  and  one  of  the 
attending  gynaecologists  of  the  Out-door  Department  of 
Bellevue  Hospital. 

He  was  also  Professor  V.  P.  Gibney's  assistant,  and  one 
of  the  lecturers  at  the  New  York  Polyclinic. 

In  April,  1889,  Dr.  Cowles  removed  to  the  Pacific  Coast, 
locating  in  Los  Angeles,  California,  where  he  established 
the  Pacific  Sanitarium,  designed  for  the  treatment  of  sur- 
gical diseases  of  women,  since  which  time  he  and  his 
friends  have  done  a  great  many  abdominal  and  other 
operations,  with  most  gratifying  results. 

One   of  these   cases  was  a  hysterectomy  done  by  Dr. 


DR.  J.  E.    COWLES.  jg, 

Cowles,  May  9,  1894,  on  a  full-blooded  Coahuilla  Indian 
woman,  the  first  instance,  so  far  as  he  knows,  in  which  an 
Indian  woman  has  ever  been  subjected  to  this  operation. 
The  tumor,  a  solid  fibroid,  weighed  twenty-five  pounds, 
and  was  six  inches  across  the  pedicle.  The  woman  re- 
covered as  though  she  had  only  undergone  a  minor  opera- 
tion, temperature  never  having  ranged  higher  than  99^° 
F.,  and  pulse  never  above  90. 

Dr.  Cowles  is  a  member  of  the  Los  Angeles  County 
Medical  Society,  the  Southern  California  Medical  Asso- 
ciation, and  the  American  Medical  Association.  He  has 
written  several  valuable  papers,  among  them  a  monograph 
on  "  Puerperal  Infection  ;"  a  paper  on  "Endometritis;" 
"  Report  of  a  Case  of  Absence  of  the  Vagina,  with  Re- 
tained Menstrual  Fluid;"  "Report  of  a  Case  of  Gangre- 
nous Dermoid  of  the  Left  Ovary  from  Twisted  Pedicle,  with 
General  Peritonitis,  Secondary  Operation  Two  Weeks 
Later  for  Intestinal  Obstruction,  with  Recovery;"  "  Cases 
of  Strangulated  Inguinal  Hernia,  with  Operations  for 
Radical  Cure,"  etc. 

Dr.  Cowles  is  a  churchman,  being  Senior  Warden  of  St. 
John's  Church,  Los  Angeles.  He  is  also  a  member  of  the 
Sons  of  the  Revolution  of  California. 

In  the  year  1891  Dr.  Cowles  wedded  lone  Virginia 
Hill,  the  eldest  daughter  of  T.  Clarkson  Hill,  Esq.,  a 
prominent  Quaker  of  Chicago,  111. 

The  Doctor's  wife  is  a  very  superior  and  lovely  character, 
as  well  as  a  woman  of  rare  business  qualifications,  being 
identified  with  a  number  of  prominent  charities  in  the 
city. 


j84  DR.  SAMUEL  H.  PINKER  TON. 

SAMUEL  H.  PINKERTON,  M.D., 

SALT  LAKE  CITY,   UTAH. 

Samuel  H.  Pinkerton,  M.D.,  of  Salt  Lake  City,  Utah, 
was  born  in  New  York  City,  May  27,  1857.  His  early 
education  was  received  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.  Entering 
upon  the  study  of  medicine  he  received  his  degree  of 
Doctor  of  Medicine  from  the  Bellevue  Hospital  Medi- 
cal College  in  1S83.  In  October  of  the  same  year  he 
entered  Bellevue  Hospital,  where  he  served  as  interne  for 
eighteen  months  in  the  third  surgical  division. 

From  1883  to  1886  he  was  Prosector  to  the  Chair  of 
Anatomy  of  the  Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College ;  was 
appointed  one  of  the  Assistant  Demonstrators  of  Anatomy 
in  the  Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College,  January,  1885  ; 
taught  operative  surgery  with  Professor  J.  D.  Bryant  in  the 
Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College  during  the  years  1884 
to  October  15,  1886,  when  he  was  advised  to  leave  New 
York  City  on  account  of  ill- health. 

He  located  in  Salt  Lake  City,  Utah,  where  he  has  taken 
up  general  surgery  and  gynaecology.  Was  appointed 
Visiting  Surgeon  to  the  Holy  Cross  Hospital  of  Salt  Lake 
City,  Utah,  and  Surgeon  to  the  Rio  Grande  Western  Rail- 
road in  1887.  Dr.  Pinkerton  is  widely  known  in  the  West 
as  a  rapid  and  skilful  operator,  and  since  his  residence  in 
Salt  Lake  City  has  followed  most  studiously  the  work  of 
the  abdominal  surgeon,  contributing  frequently  to  medical 
literature. 

He  is  a  charter  member  of  the  Society  of  Alumni  of 
Bellevue  Hospital ;  a  member  of  the  Salt  Lake  County 
Medical  Society  and  Salt  Lake  Academy  of  Medicine. 

He  married,  October  30,  1889,  Mary  L.  Kissick,  daugh- 
ter of  the  late  James  B.  Kissick,  of  Keokuk,  Iowa. 


^^!k/£**&4>*^£  ?f\     C/^z^X^i^^^-- 


DR.  M.-BELLE  BROWN.  I8jj 

M.    BELLE   BROWN,  M.D., 

NEW    YORK    CITY,    N.    Y. 

Dr.  M.  Belle  Brown  occupies  a  prominent  place 
among  the  women  physicians  of  New  York.  She  is  a 
native  of  Ohio,  and  was  educated  in  the  High  School  of 
her  native  town  and  at  the  Oxford  Female  College.  In  1876 
she  came  to  New  York  to  study  medicine  and  was  grad- 
uated in  1879.  She  entered  immediately  upon  the  general 
practice  of  medicine,  but  for  the  past  ten  years  has  made 
a  specialty  of  diseases  of  women.  She  is  Professor  of 
Gynaecology  in  the  New  York  Medical  College  and  Hos- 
pital for  Women,  and  Secretary  of  the  Faculty.  She  is  a 
member  of  the  New  York  County  Society,  of  the  American 
Institute  of  Homoeopathy,  of  the  Consulting  Staff  of  the 
Woman's  Hospital  in  New  York,  and  of  the  Memorial 
Hospital  in  Brooklyn. 

Below  we  quote  an  editorial  written  by  Dr.  Brown  for 
the  North  American  Journal  of  Homoeopathy,  on  "Woman 
in  Medicine,"  as  follows: 

"  I  have  been  asked  to  write  upon  the  topic  of  women 
doctors.  Much  more  agreeable  would  it  be  to  treat  of 
medicine  in  its  broad  application  to  practice,  where  sex 
distinctions  in  the  practitioner  are  not  considered,  and 
only  the  decisions  of  beneficent  results  are  sought  after. 
Women  doctors  are  only  doctors — that  is  all  ;_to  say  more 
or  less  of  them  is  happily  becoming  venerable  and  decrepit 
history. 

"  Women  in  medicine  have  ceased  to  be  a  novelty. 
Their  presence  in  the  colleges,  at  the  hospitals,  in  clinical 
engagements,  and  with  the  sick  no  longer  excites  partic- 
ular comment. 

"Industrial  and  social  conditions  have  created  for 
women  emergencies  that  the  ordinary  and  hitherto  regu- 


x86  dr-  m-  belle  brown. 

lar  arrangements  of  life  will  not  meet.  Let  the  sociologist 
debate  these  matters  with  himself,  and  the  stickler  for  the 
rigidity  of  '  spheres '  contribute  his  customary  truthlets, 
the  fact  remains  that  a  mighty  army  of  earnest,  anxious 
women  are  casting  about  them  for  some  engagement  of 
their  energies,  worthy,  satisfactory,  and,  in  the  broadest 
sense,  remunerative.  Medicine  has  about  itself  a  peculiar 
invitation  for  women. 

"The  history  of  sickness  is  inseparably  allied  to  that  of 
woman ;  both  as  sufferer  and  nurse  her  part  is  prominent. 
Invidious  distinctions  in  abilities,  based  upon  accident 
of  sex,  can  poorly  serve  the  interest  of  argument  in 
any  cause ;  but,  if  these  were  raised  against  the  woman 
doctor,  she  could  surely  claim  for  herself  an  inheritance 
of  actual  experience  that  could  not  but  give  her  an  ad- 
vantage, in  initial  equipment  at  least,  for  the  more  usual 
exigencies  of  general  practice. 

"  Therefore,  the  rapid  increase  in  the  number  of  those 
who  turn  to  medicine  as  a  calling,  quite  as  really  as  a 
business.  From  the  two  or  three  of  a  generation  ago  to 
the  thousands  of  to-day  !  Women  doctors  are  not  intru- 
ders. The  work  of  those  who  undertook  and  consum- 
mated the  movement  for  the  admission  of  women  to  the 
full  privileges  of  a  physician  was  too  well  done  to  now 
admit  of  question  upon  this  right.  All  honor  to  these 
pioneers  in  a  most  noble  endeavor  !  They  met  with  op- 
position but  naturally.  Precedent  and  prejudice  are  in 
themselves  stern  barriers  to  progress,  and  must  effectually 
arrest  the  purposes  of  all  who  cannot  establish  for  them- 
selves an  unmistakable  right  of  way. 

"  The  medical  profession  is  vigilantly  jealous  against 
innovation  or  irregularity.  Women  had  to  prove  their 
right  to  the  possession  of  parchments  that  have  about 
them  a  significance  belonging  to  no  similar  documents  in 
all  the  range  of  the  professions.  This  was  all  as  it  should 
be,   and   certainly  enhances   the  value   of  the   privilege 


DR.  M.  BELLE  BROWN. 


1 8/ 


finally  and  fully  granted.  The  right  of  woman  to  practise 
medicine  is  thus  established  by  the  fact  that  she  practises. 
The  woman  doctor  feels,  therefore,  no  disadvantage  of 
position,  and  may  assume  the  responsibilities  of  her  calling 
with  the  confidence  belonging  to  regularity  of  authority 
and  guaranty  of  law.  Cordiality  of  relationship  with 
those  who  so  long  preceded  women  in  the  field  of  med- 
icine offers  to  the  woman  doctor  of  this  day  another 
positive  and  invaluable  advantage.  Man  or  woman,  it 
matters  little,  the  physician  in  either  case  absorbs  it  all. 
The  woman  doctor  acknowledges  her  obligations  to  those 
who  have  created  and  developed  the  noble  profession  to- 
day her  own.  The  entire  body  of  literature,  which  forms 
the  theoretic  basis  of  her  profession,  belongs  so  entirely  to 
the  men  that  women  are,  as  yet,  but  borrowers.  Actual 
practice  still  finds  its  greater  currents  in  channels  natural 
to  its  history.  Women  must  find  their  education  in  those 
records  in  the  making  of  which  she  has  no  definite  place, 
and  must  seek  assistance  from  a  more  widely  diversified 
experience  than  is  yet  possible  in  her  own  practice. 
About  all  that  is  educative  in  medicine  comes  to  woman 
from  men — freely,  generously,  and  with  an  entente  cordiale 
that  makes  professional  relationship  a  pleasure  and  a 
mutual  advantage.  There  are  still,  of  course,  lingering 
exceptions  to  this  most  happy  rule ;  men  who  find  pleas- 
ure rather  than  conviction  in  rehearsing  ancient  diatribes 
upon  feminine  disabilities,  and  who  create  so  many  rea- 
sons for  woman's  failure,  as  to  make  the  successful  woman 
doctor  almost  doubt  her  own  success  j  but  these  are 
happily  in  a  steadily  diminishing  minority.  Let  '  the 
shallows  murmur '  so  that  the  great  streams  of  fellowship 
flow  all  toward  professional  affiliation  ! 

"The  'schools,'  alas!  may  still  divide  physicians,  but 
difference  in  sex  cannot. 

"In  general  practice  women  doctors  are  already  posi- 
tive factors,  too  numerous  to  be  overlooked,  and  too  capa- 


i  83  DR-  M-  BELLE  BROWN. 

ble  to  be  decried.  The  leading  specialties  still  belong 
almost  exclusively  to  men,  but  women  are  already  reaching 
beyond  the  limits  of  that  practice  which,  most  naturally, 
first  sought  them  out,  and  will  unquestionably  yet  chal- 
lenge competition  in  every  department  of  their  profes- 
sion. Ambition  and  ability  know  no  limitation  of  sex. 
Theory,  experiment,  and  specialty  usually  result  from 
long  association  with  a  calling,  and  are  not  the  first  en- 
gagements of  recruits  ;  generals  in  command  are  not  called 
immediately  from  the  ranks.  The  woman  doctor  entered 
medicine  to  practise  medicine,  and  it  may,  we  think,  be 
claimed  of  her  that  in  this  unified  purpose  to  help  and 
heal  the  sick  her  work  has  an  intensity  and  singleness 
about  it  that  have  compelled  respect  and  must  advance 
*  her  interests.  The  education  of  the  physician  is  a  complex 
of  theory  and  experience,  of  books  and  practice,  of  lec- 
ture-room and  sick-bed.  In  every  respect  of  opportunity 
for  education  from  the  schools,  from  clinic  and  hospital 
privilege  the  woman  doctor  is  at  an  initial  disadvantage. 
The  male  practitioner  draws  his  professional  breath  in 
atmospheres  steeped  with  the  learnings  of  his  chosen 
calling.  The  very  absorption  of  such  mental  environ- 
ments is  beyond  value.  Comparatively  little  of  this  is 
woman's  privilege.  Women  have  first  to  make  a  history — 
then  to  profit  by  it.  When  her  schools  reflect  the  wisdom 
of  generations  and  her  lecture-rooms  speak  with  the 
authority  of  personal  power,  the  woman  doctor  will  en- 
large the  scope  of  her  exertions,  and  undertake,  with 
confidence,  any  and  every  line  of  suitable  professional 
endeavor.  Nor  is  the  day  for  this  consummation  so  very 
far  distant.  All  the  advantages  of  education  are  now 
required  for  success  in  medicine,  and  are  demanded  by 
the  women  equally  with  the  men.  Young  women,  with 
the  energies  and  ambitions  of  their  youth  strong  within 
them,  are  now  entering  upon  professional  preparation 
under  conditions  of  most  exacting  regularity. 


DR.  VICTOR  H.  COFFMAN. 


189 


"'Intuition,'  '  a  woman's  sensitiveness  to  conditions,' 
and  all  the  worse  than  twaddle  of  those  who  would  ad- 
vance their  sex  as  any  significant  part  of  their  equipment, 
are  absolutely  repudiated  by  the  woman  doctor  of  to-day, 
who  depends  alone  upon  the  resources  of  scientific 
method.  Women  in  medicine  regard  their  parchments 
as  a  solemn  gift  to  which  they  owe  the  full  engagement  of 
their  ultimate  abilities.  And  now,  in  the  full  enjoyment 
of  liberal  opportunity,  of  grave  but  grateful  responsibility, 
they  ask  only  a  fair  estimate  upon  their  actual  achieve- 
ments." 

VICTOR  H.  COFFMAN,  M.D., 

OMAHA,  NEB. 

Victor  H.  Coffman,  M.D.,  was  born  near  Zanesville, 
Ohio,  September  10,  1839.  He  received  his  literary  educa- 
tion at  the  Iowa  Wesleyan  University,  at  Mt.  Pleasant,  la. 
Began  his  course  in  medicine  with  the  Chicago  Medical 
College,  having  read  medicine  with  Dr.  Charles  W.  Davis, 
of  Indianola,  la.,  a  wonderfully  successful  physician.  At 
the  beginning  of  the  war  he  was  solicited  to  go  before  the 
Army  Medical  Examining  Board,  and,  passing  successfully 
the  ordeal  of  the  medical  quiz,  was  commissioned  Assistant 
Surgeon  of  the  34th  Iowa  Infantry,  August  22,  1862. 
Within  one  year  thereafter  he  was  promoted  to  Surgeon  of 
the  regiment,  having  been  constantly  on  the  operating 
staff  of  surgeons,  and  always  receiving  the  compliments  of 
his  superior  officers  ;  he  was  brevetted  Lieutenant-Colonel 
for  meritorious  services  at  the  battles  surrounding  Mobile. 
Was  on  duty  at  Houston,  Texas,  where  he  had  the  honor 
of  receiving  from  Dr.  Joseph  Nash  McDowell  (Confederate 
Medical  Director)  all  of  his  medical  supplies  and  property 
upon  his  surrender  with  the  Confederate  soldiers  of  Texas. 
His  remark  to  Dr.  Coffman  was,  "  I  have  now  taken  the 
oath  and  am  as  good  a  Union  man  as  you  are." 


190 


DR    VICTOR  H.    COFFMAN. 


Dr.  Victor  H.  Coffman,  at  the  close  of  the  war,  was  grad- 
uated at  the  Jefferson  Medical  College,  Philadelphia,  and 
on  the  14th  April,  1867,  located  in  Omaha,  Neb.,  where 
he  has  continually  resided  till  the  present  time.  He  was 
married  in  the  city  of  Chicago  on  the  10th  day  of  Sep- 
tember, 1879,  to  Miss  Rose  DeVoto.  Their  family  con- 
sists of  one  son,  Weir,  and  two  daughters,  Augusta  Marie 
and  Rose  Lyle.  The  same  year  on  coming  to  Omaha  he 
performed  the  first  ovariotomy  ever  made  in  Omaha  or 
Nebraska.  This  operation  was  at  the  St.  Joseph  Hospital. 
His  securing  the  stump  of  the  tumor  (which  was  an  im- 
mense one)  with  a  clamp  outside  the  abdominal  walls 
caused  the  death  of  his  patient.  His  experience  of  this 
case  taught  him  a  lesson,  and  thereafter  in  all  his  future 
operations  he  secured  the  stump  with  silk  ligatures,  closing 
the  abdominal  wound  without  drainage.  His  successes  as 
an  ovariotomist  are  flattering  indeed,  and  challenge  com- 
parison with  any  operator. 

One  of  his  successful  cases  was  that  of  a  girl,  fourteen 
years  of  age,  in  the  western  part  of  the  State,  removing  a 
tumor  weighing  forty-five  pounds,  which  was  within  a  few 
pounds  as  heavy  as  the  patient's  body  after  the  removal  of 
the  tumor. 

Dr.  Coffman  has  been  in  general  practice  since  leaving 
the  army,  doing  an  immense  business.  He  has  not  con- 
fined his  business  to  any  specialty,  but  does  general  surgery 
and  practice,  having  a  high  appreciation  of  his  profession. 
He  will  accept  no  excuses  for  incompetency,  and  to  his 
patients  exercises  the  greatest  of  generosity,  though  he 
believes  in  being  well  remunerated  for  his  services  from 
those  who  are  able,  and  he  is  equally  charitable  to  the  un- 
fortunate. He  held  the  Chair  of  Practice  of  Medicine  in 
the  Omaha  Medical  College  for  six  years.  He  is  a  sound, 
practical  teacher,  cautious  as  an  operator. 

He  abhors  the  jealousies  of  the  profession,  the  mercan- 
tile  tendencies  of  the  age,  and  believes  in  the  principle 


^^^y^y^C^Lt>^<^  (yiCvsZi^v 


DR.  GEORGE   WILLIAM  PERKINS. 


I9I 


the  patient  "paying  his  money  and  taking  his  choice," 
and  fair  dealing  with  his  associates. 

He  stands  at  the  head  of  his  profession  as  a  conscien- 
tious, honorable  practitioner. 

GEORGE  WILLIAM  PERKINS,  M.D., 

OGDEN,    UTAH. 

Dr.  George  William  Perkins  was  born  on  January  6, 
i860,  in  Topsfield,  Essex  County,  Mass.,  of  native  New 
England  parentage.  His  primary  education  was  obtained 
in  the  public  schools  of  that  town. 

In  early  boyhood  he  decided  to  study  medicine  for  a 
profession,  and,  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  he  entered  the 
junior  class  in  Phillips  Academy  at  Exeter,  New  Hamp- 
shire, to  fit  for  college.  Here  he  spent  three  years  in  pre- 
paratory studies,  graduating  in  June,  1879.  ^n  September 
of  the  same  year  he  entered  the  freshman  class  in  Harvard 
College.  The  next  year  he  was  admitted  to  the  junior 
class,  having  done  enough  more  than  the  required  amount 
of  work,  during  his  first  year  of  collegiate  life,  to  entitle 
him  to  advance  a  class.  During  the  junior  and  senior 
years  in  college  his  elective  studies  were  chosen  from 
among  the  courses  in  Natural  Science  and  Modern  Lan- 
guages, best  adapted  to  furnish  a  thorough  scientific 
groundwork  for  the  study  of  medicine. 

In  June,  1882,  he  received  from  Harvard  College  the 
degree  of  A.B.,  and  immediately  afterward  was  appointed 
Assistant  in  Biology  in  Harvard  University  ;  this  position 
he  held  for  the  next  two  years,  and  at  the  same  time  pur- 
sued the  study  of  medicine  in  the  Medical  School  of  Har- 
vard University. 

In  the  autumn  of  1884  he  was  an  applicant  for  the  posi- 
tion of  House  Officer  at  the  Boston  City  Hospital,  in 
competitive  examination  with  members  of  the  advanced 


192 


DR.    GEORGE  WILLIAM  PERK' INS. 


classes  of  the  medical  school,  and  received  an  appointment 
to  the  House  Staff  in  December,  18S4.  Here  he  served 
three  months  as  Medical  Externe;  three  months  as  Surgi- 
cal Externe;  six  months. as  Surgical  Interne;  and  six 
months  as  House  Surgeon,  in  the  "South  Surgical  Ser- 
vice." During  the  first  six  months  of  this  hospital  service 
he  was  also  enrolled  as  a  student  in  the  medical  college. 

In  June,  1885,  he  had  passed  all  the  examinations  re- 
quired for  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine  in  the  medi- 
cal college,  but,  owing  to  a  requirement  of  the  hospital 
that  all  house  officers  must  be  non-graduates  in  medicine 
at  the  time  of  beginning  their  interne  service,  he  did  not 
actually  take  the  degree  of  M.D.  till  June,  1886. 

He  was  admitted  a  Fellow  of  the  Massachusetts  Medical 
Society  in  the  summer  of  1886,  and,  having  received  the 
appointment  of  Division  Surgeon  for  the  Mountain  Divi- 
sion of  the  Union  Pacific  Railway  Company  at  about  the 
same  time,  he  came  to  Denver,  Col.,  in  July,  1886,  where 
he  spent  two  months  to  familiarize  himself  with  the  duties 
of  his  new  position,  and  in  September,  1886,  established 
himself  at  Ogden,  Utah,  the  headquarters  of  the  Mountain 
Division  of  the  Medical  Department  of  the  company, 
where  he  has  since  resided. 

Here  he  took  charge  of  the  Railway  Hospital,  and  at 
once  entered  on  a  large  surgical  practice,  which  has 
steadily  grown  and  extended  until  he  has  become  widely 
known  throughout  the  "Inter-mountain  Region  of  the 
West  "  as  a  skilful  and  successful  operator. 

In  1888  he  was  also  appointed  Division  Surgeon  for  the 
Southern  Pacific  Company. 

In  1894  he  was  elected  President  of  the  Weber  County 
Medical  Society,  and  in  1895  Vice-President  of  the  Utah 
State  Medical  Society. 

He  has  published  in  various  medical  and  surgical  jour- 
nals occasional  reports  of  unusual  surgical  cases. 


DR.  R.  C.  M.  PAGE.  jg^ 

R.  C.   M.  PAGE,  M.D., 

NEW    YORK,   N.   Y. 

Major  Richard  Channing  Moore  Page  is  a  prominent 
member  of  the  Confederate  Veteran  Camp  of  New  York, 
and  in  October,  1891,  was  appointed  its  Surgeon-in-Chief. 

He  was  born  at  Keswick,  Albemarle  County,  Va., 
January  2,  1841.  His  father  was  Dr.  Mann  Page,  son  of 
Major  Carter  Page,  of  Revolutionary  fame,  who  served  on 
the  personal  staff  of  Lafayette  in  the  campaign  against 
Cornwallis. 

The  ancestral  line  runs  back  to  the  first  century  of  Eng- 
lish settlement  in  America. 

Major  Carter  Page  was  the  son  of  the  Hon.  John  Page, 
son  of  Hon.  Mann  Page,  son  of  Hon.  Matthew  Page,  son 
of  Hon.  John  Page,  a  merchant  born  in  England  in  1627, 
who  removed  to  Virginia,  became  a  member  of  the  Royal 
Colonial  Council,  and  died  in  1692.  Major  Page's  mother 
was  Miss  Walker,  of  Castle  Hill,  Va.,  daughter  of  Hon. 
Francis  Walker,  M.C.,  whose  brother,  Colonel  John  Wal- 
ker, was  aide-de-camp  to  General  George  Washington. 

Major  Page  was  educated  at  the  University  of  Virginia, 
where  he  was  a  student  when  the  war  broke  out.  He  was 
graduated  in  Latin  and  mathematics,  and  distinguished 
himself  in  Greek. 

He  entered  the  Confederate  Army  at  the  age  of  twenty 
years,  enlisting  at  Winchester,  Frederick  County,  Va., 
July  14,  1 86 1,  as  a  private  in  Penderton's  Rockbridge 
Battery,  attached  to  General  "Stonewall"  Jackson's  Bri- 
gade, in  the  army  of  General  Joseph  E.  Johnston. 

Young  Page  marched  with  his  companions  to  join 
Beauregard,  and  was  present  at  the  first  battle  of  Bull  Run. 
In  October  following  he  was  transferred  from  the  Rock- 
bridge Battery  to  Captain  Lewis  M.  Colman's  Morris  Ar- 
tillery, and  promoted  to  the  rank  of  Second  Gun  Sergeant. 
vol.  11. — 13 


194 


DR.  R.    C.  M.   PAGE. 


He  accompanied  Johnston's  army  in  the  march  to  the 
Peninsula,  and  early  in  the  spring  of  1862,  after  the  battle 
of  Williamsburg,  was  brevetted  Captain  of  Artillery.  In 
this  capacity  he  served  through  the  campaign  around 
Richmond,  and  against  McClellan  in  the  battle  of  Antie- 
tam,  where  he  received  special  commendation  for  his 
brilliant  service.  He  was  also  actively  engaged  in  the 
battles  of  Fredericksburg  and  Chancellorsville.  In  the 
latter  engagement  Page's  Battery  occupied  an  advanced 
position  in  the  skirmish  line,  and  it  was  in  front  of  its  guns 
that  the  gallant  "  Stonewall "  Jackson  was  accidentally  shot 
by  his  own  infantry  on  the  night  of  May  2,  1863.  On  the 
following  morning  to  Captain  Page  was  accorded  the 
honor  of  firing  the  signal  gun  for  the  commencement  of 
the  battle. 

It  was  his  battery,  also,  which  first  occupied  Hazel 
Grove,  a  point  sweeping  Hooker's  almost  impregnable 
works,  and  forcing  that  redoubtable  fighter  to  retire. 
Again,  at  Gettysburg,  Page's  Battery  occupied  a  front 
position  and  was  exposed  to  such  murderous  fire  that  in 
less  than  an  hour  thirty-two  of  its  officers  and  men  were 
killed  and  wounded.  Captain  Page  himself  was  danger- 
ously wounded,  but  recovered,  and  in  March,  1864,  was 
promoted  to  the  rank  of  Major  of  Artillery. 

He  served  through  the  "Wilderness  campaign  against 
General  Grant,  and  in  October,  1864,  was  detailed  on  the 
staff  of  General  John  C.  Breckenridge  as  Chief  of  Artillery 
for  the  department  of  Southwest  Virginia  and  East  Ten- 
nessee, serving  until  the  end  of  the  war. 

Dr.  Page  has  published  a  diary  kept  by  him  during  this 
last  period,  and  it  illustrates  the  pathetic  straits  to  which 
the  Confederates  were  reduced  in  their  desperate  efforts  to 
continue  the  struggle.  Under  date  of  April  7,  1865,  we 
find  this  entry:  "Moved  through  Wytheville  going  East, 
colors  flying  in  following  order,  Lynch,  Burroughs,  Dou- 
that,  and  King,  four  batteries  of  four  guns  each  ;   '  the  best 


DR.  R.   C.  M.  PAGE. 


195 


battery  of  artillery  ever  seen  in  that  part  of  the  world,' 
remarked  one  of  Lee's  inspectors,  as  the  column  moved  by. 
It  was  among  the  last  flickers  of  life  before  the  rapidly 
dying  Confederacy  entered  into  eternal  rest." 

In  February,  1864,  Captain  Page  was  captured  by  the 
Federals  during  Dahlgren's  raid  at  Frederick's  Hall,  Louisa 
County,  Va.,  but  he  managed  to  escape  and  rejoin  his 
command  in  a  short  time. 

After  the  close  of  the  war,  in  1866,  he  returned  to  the 
University  of  Virginia  and  studied  medicine,  graduating 
in  one  session,  in  June,  1867.  In  August  following  he 
removed  to  New  York  City,  and  matriculated  in  the  medi- 
cal department  of  the  University  of  the  City  of  New  York, 
graduating  the  succeeding  March.  In  April  he  entered 
the  competitive  examination  for  Bellevue  Hospital,  secured 
first  prize,  and  was  admitted  on  the  staff  of  that  institution, 
serving  the  regular  term  as  House  Physician.  He  was  ap- 
pointed District  Physician,  a  political  position,  but  after 
a  short  time  resigned,  and  entered  the  Woman's  Hospital 
as  Assistant. 

In  1 87 1  Dr.  Page  began  to  practise  on  his  own  account, 
and  has  resided  in  New  York  ever  since. 

In  1874  he  was  married  to  Mrs  Elizabeth  Fitch  Win- 
slow,  of  Westport,  Conn.,  widow  of  Hon.  Richard  Henry 
Winslow,  who  founded  the  bank  of  Winslow,  Lanier  & 
Co.,  in  New  York  City. 

In  1886  Dr.  Page  was  appointed  Professor  of  Diseases  of 
the  Chest  and  General  Medicine  in  the  New  York  Poly- 
clinic, a  position  which  he  still  holds. 

He  was  also  Vice-President  of  the  New  York  Academy 
of  Medicine,  and  is  still  a  member  of  the  New  York  Path- 
ological Society,  the  New  York  State  Medical  Society, 
and  other  important  medical  societies.  Upon  him  was 
conferred  the  honor,  in  the  summer  of  1888,  of  an  ap- 
pointment as  Honorary  Vice-President  of  the  Paris  Con- 
gress for  the  Study  of  Tuberculosis. 


196 


DR.    W.  B.   CRAIG. 


Dr.  Page  is  the  author  of  a  number  of  important  medi- 
cal works,  among  them  being  a  Chart  of  Physical  Signs, 
etc.,  a  Handbook  of  Physical  Diagnosis,  and  The  Practice 
of  Medicine. 

He  is  the  author  also  of  a  carefully  prepared  genealogy 
of  the  Page  family  in  Virginia,  including  the  Nelson, 
Walker,  and  Randolph  families. 

He  has  written  some  notable  pamphlets,  one  of  the  most 
important  being  on  "  Metastatic  Parotitis,"  a  subject  which 
attracted  world-wide  attention  in  the  case  of  President 
Garfield.  Other  pamphlets,  perhaps  not  less  able,  treat 
of  "Typhoid  Fever,"  "  Lead  -poisoning,"  and  "  Bright's 
Disease  of  the  Kidneys,"  etc. 

Dr.  Page  is  a  member  of  the  New  York  Historical 
Society,  the  Virginia  Historical  Society,  the  New  York 
Southern  Society,  as  well  as  the  Confederate  Veteran  Camp 
of  New  York. 

W.    B.    CRAIG,  M.D., 

DENVER,    COL. 

Dr.  William  Bedford  Craig,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  was  born  September  17,  1855,  at  De  Kalb, 
Buchanan  County,  Missouri,  near  St.  Joseph,  to  which 
place  his  parents  shortly  afterward  removed. 

His  education  was  acquired  in  the  grammar  and  high 
school  departments  of  the  public  schools  of  St.  Joseph, 
Missouri,  and  by  private  instruction  in  Helena,  Montana. 

He  early  evinced  an  inclination  for  the  study  of  med- 
icine, and  in  conformity  to  such  was  sent  to  St.  Louis 
and  New  Yorkj  where  in  due  course  of  time  the  medical 
degree  was  conferred  in  each  respective  college  of  his 
selection,  viz.,  Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College  and 
St.  Louis  Medical  College. 

Returning   from   the  East  in    1876,    Dr.    Craig  began 


Wrrt .  -O&rzU*.  la,  /f 


DR.    W.   B.   CRAIG. 


I97 


practice  at  his  old  home,  St.  Joseph,  where  for  about  six 
years  he  was  prominently  identified  with  the  best  profes- 
sional work  of  the  place,  especially  surgical. 

Dr.  Craig  was  one  of  the  original  seven  who  incorpor- 
ated and  founded  the  St.  Joseph's  Hospital  Medical 
College,  now  the  Ensworth,  in  which  school  he  taught 
anatomy  and  orthopaedic  surgery. 

In  June,  1882,  he  decided  to  remove  to  Denver  on 
account  of  his  mother's  health,  which  had  for  some  years 
been  declining,  and  had  now  become  rapidly  worse. 

From  1882  to  1891  his  entire  time  and  every  faculty  were 
occupied  with  a  large  general  practice,  and,  as  a  reputation 
for  surgery  acquired  in  Missouri  had  followed  him  to  his 
new  home  in  Denver,  surgery,  together  with  diseases  of 
women,  constituted  the  major  portion  of  his  work. 
Here,  as  in  his  former  place  of  practice,  the  Doctor  easily 
took  and  maintained  a  leading  position  in  the  profession. 

He  enjoyed  a  larger  experience,  and  an  ever-widening 
acquaintance  and  reputation  caused  him  to  be  called  to 
different  parts  of  Colorado  and  the  adjoining  States  to 
prescribe  for  the  sick  or  perform  major  surgical  operations. 

In  the  commencement  of  1891,  having  decided  to 
abandon  general  practice  and  to  devote  his  entire  atten- 
tion to  those  branches  of  his  profession  in  which  he  had 
always  been  most  interested,  viz.,  gynaecology  and  abdom- 
inal surgery,  he  visited  New  York  and  Philadelphia, 
where  he  spent  many  months  in  the  study  of  the  methods 
of  teaching  and  operative  technique  practised  in  the 
hospitals  and  post-graduate  schools  of  those  cities,  so  that 
he  might  fit  himself  more  perfectly  for  the  special  work  to 
which  he  contemplated  devoting  the  remainder  of  his 
professional  life.  On  his  return,  by  reason  of  former 
practice  in  Denver  and  an  extensive  acquaintance,  he,  as  in 
former  years,  immediately  acquired  a  large  practice  in  ab- 
dominal surgery  and  gynsecology,  and  although  "limited" 
for  only  about  five  years,  he  has  performed  several  hun- 


!o3  DR.  JOHN  IV.  STREETER. 

dred  coeliotomies.  Among  his  major  operations  may  be 
mentioned  lumbar  and  abdominal  nephrectomy,  abdom- 
inal and  vaginal  hysterectomies,  Caesarean  section,  etc. 

Dr.  Craig  is  a  Fellow  of  the  British  Gynaecological 
Society  and  member  of  the  Colorado  local  and  State 
Societies,  and  holds  the  following  hospital  and  college 
appointments:  Gynaecologist  to  St.  Luke's  (Episcopal) 
and  St.  Joseph's  (Catholic)  Hospitals.  He,  also,  was 
Professor  of  Clinical  Gynaecology,  Medical  Department 
of  the  University,  Denver,  Colorado,  which  position  he 
resigned  to  accept  the  appointment  of  Professor  of  Ab- 
dominal Surgery  and  Clinical  Gynaecology  to  the  Medical 
Department  of  the  University,  State  of  Colorado. 


JOHN   W.    STREETER,  M.D., 

CHICAGO,    ILL. 

One  of  the  most  eminent  and  successful  gynaecologists 
in  the  West  is  Dr.  John  William  Streeter,  of  Chicago, 
Illinois.  He  was  born  at  Austinburg,  Ohio,  September 
17,  1 841,  and  is  a  direct  descendant,  on  his  father's  side, 
of  Stephen  Streeter,  who  came  to  the  Massachusetts 
Colony  in  1644,  and,  on  the  mother's  side,  from  Roger 
Williams,  the  founder  of  the  Rhode  Island  Colony.  Dr. 
Streeter's  father  was  Rev.  Sereno  W.  Streeter,  a  clergy- 
man of  the  Congregational  Church,  and  his  mother,  Mary 
Williams.  The  parents  of  Dr.  Streeter  were  both  graduates 
of  the  University  of  Oberlin,  Ohio. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  received  his  early  education 
at  Monroe  Academy,  near  Rochester,  New  York.  Later 
he  was  for  two  years  a  student  at  the  Otterbein  University 
at  Westerville,  Ohio.  When  seventeen  years  of  age  young 
Streeter  left  home  and  went  into  Northern  Indiana,  where 


"^JCuZ^r?^ 


DR.  JOHN  W.   STREETER.  Iqq 

he  taught  school  and  worked  on  a  farm  until  the  spring  of 
1862.  In  July  of  thac  year  he  enlisted  as  a  private  in  the 
First  Michigan  Light  Artillery,  known  as  Loomis's  Battery. 
With  his  command  he  took  part  in  the  campaigns  through 
Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Alabama,  and  Georgia.  He  par- 
ticipated in  all  the  battles  fought  by  the  Army  of  the 
Cumberland,  and  was  mustered  out  of  service  at  the  close 
of  the  war  with  the  rank  of  lieutenant. 

On  leaving  the  army  Lieut.  Streeter  began  the  study  of 
medicine  with  Dr.  Morse  at  Union  City,  Michigan,  and 
in  the  fall  of  that  year  (1865)  he  went  to  the  University 
of  Michigan,  where  he  attended  his  first  course  of  lectures. 
This  was  followed  by  close  reading  under  the  guidance  of 
Dr.  D.  G.  Powers,  of  Coldwater,  Michigan,  and  later 
under  Dr.  Goodwin,  of  Toledo,  Ohio.  After  three  years 
of  study  he  was  graduated  at  the  Hahnemann  Medical 
College  of  Chicago.  For  two  years  after  graduation  Dr. 
Streeter  practised  among  the  poor  of  Chicago  for  the  sake 
of  acquiring  practical  training,  which  was  not  at  that  time 
accessible  in  any  hospital.  He  then  moved  into  a  pleas- 
ant residence  portion  of  the  city,  and  began  to  build  up 
a  private  practice  which  rapidly  developed  into  one  of  the 
largest  ever  held  by  a  physician  in  this  western  metropolis. 
While  engaged  in  general  practice  Dr.  Streeter  paid 
marked  attention  to  the  diseases  of  women,  and  at  the  age 
of  thirty-four  he  was  made  Professor  of  the  Diseases  of 
Women  in  the  Chicago  Homoeopathic  Medical  College. 
For  twenty  years  he  has  filled  this  position  acceptably  to 
his  associates,  and  to  the  large  classes  of  students  who 
have  listened  to  his  lectures.  During  the  most  of  this 
time  Prof.  Streeter  has  been  attending  gynaecologist  at 
the  Cook  County  Hospital,  at  the  Chicago  Homoeopathic 
Hospital,  and  at  the  Dispensary  connected  with  the  College. 
His  clinics  have  been  usually  large  and  interesting,  and 
his  operations  very  successful.  As  a  teacher  he  is  lucid 
and  earnest,  and  as  an  operator  quick  and  careful. 


200  DR-    GEORGE  H.   PALMER. 

In  addition  to  his  work  in  public  hospitals,  Prof. 
Streeter  has  a  private  hospital  which  has  grown  to  be  one 
of  the  institutions  of  the  West.  It  is,  without  doubt,  the 
most  perfect  in  construction  and  appointment  of  any- 
private  hospital  in  the  world.  Thousands  of  women  have 
received  treatment  within  its  walls,  and  are  now  enthu- 
siastic advocates  of  the  kindly  and  conservative  methods 
which  prevail  there.  For  several  years  Dr.  Streeter  has 
given  up  general  practice  and  limited  himself  to  his 
specialty  and  consultation  visits. 

While  not  a  voluminous  writer,  he  has  contributed  much 
to  current  medical  literature,  and  whatever  he  writes  is 
eagerly  read. 

Dr.  Streeter  has  always  been  a  staunch  supporter  of  the 
National  Guard.  For  fifteen  years  he  has  been  surgeon 
of  regiment  or  brigade.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Associa- 
tion of  Military  Surgeons  and  of  the  Loyal  Legion.  He 
is  also  a  member  of  the  Calumet,  Washington  Park,  and 
Athletic  Clubs.  He  is  now  fifty-four  years  of  age  and 
apparently  in  the  prime  of  life. 

GEORGE  H.  PALMER,  M.D., 

SAN    FRANCISCO,    CAL. 

Dr.  George  Henry  Palmer  was  born  in  London, 
Canada,  June  13,  1844,  and  received  his  early  education 
in  the  schools  of  that  city.  He  also  commenced  the  study 
of  medicine  in  London,  pursuing  a  course  of  three  years 
in  the  office  of  J.  J.  Lancaster,  M.D.,  who  was  one  of  the 
pioneer  homceopathists  of  what  was  then  Western  Canada. 
He  was  always  active  in  popularizing  the  new  school  of 
medicine,  and  ever  on  the  alert  to  mould  public  opinion 
favorably,  and  to  secure  legislation  recognizing  the  rights 
of  the  practitioners  of  this  school  of  medicine  in  that 
country. 


s 


■5V    '  = 


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DR    GEORGE  H.   PALMER. 


20I 


Dr.  Palmer's  college  education  was  obtained  in  New 
York  City,  at  the  New  York  Homoeopathic  Medical  Col- 
lege, from  which  institution  he  was  graduated  in  the  year 
1865.  A  short  time  after  his  graduation  he  determined  to 
make  the  United  States  his  future  home,  and  adopt  the 
country  as  his  own. 

To  this  end  he  located  in  St.  Clair,  Mich.,  a  beautifully 
situated  city  on  the  banks  of  the  St.  Clair  River. 

He  has  been  conscious  of  many  an  inspiration,  during 
his  daily  work,  as  he  surveyed  the  panoramic  views  spread 
before  him,  views  of  rare  beauty  and  charm,  comprising 
water  and  landscape,  with  the  traffic  of  the  lakes  passing 
before  his  eyes  in  the  various  crafts  of  every  kind,  whose 
beauty,  to  his  mind,  presaged  vistas  of  realities  and  rela- 
tions in  life  yet  to  come  that  would  be  greater  and  more 
pleasing  still. 

After  a  residence  of  nearly  thirteen  years  in  St.  Clair, 
during  which  time  he  established  a  large  and  lucrative 
practice,  and  filled  many  positions  of  trust  and  responsi- 
bility, he  decided  to  move  to  a  more  extensive  field  of 
labor,  and  choose  San  Francisco,  Cal.,  as  his  future  home. 
In  the  year  1877  he  removed  to  that  city,  where  he  has 
since  remained. 

Dr.  Palmer  has  achieved  notable  success  in  his  profes- 
sion, both  as  a  physician  and  surgeon. 

He  has  held  many  positions  of  honor  in  the  profession, 
and  he  has  been  instrumental  in  forwarding  and  establish- 
ing the  claims  of  homoeopathy  in  many  ways  to  public 
recognition. 

He  was  one  of  the  promoters  of  the  "  Hahnemann  Hos- 
pital College,"  which  was  established  in  1883,  and  is  now 
recognized  as  one  of  the  first  institutions  of  this  country. 
He  fills  the  Chair  of  Professor  of  Surgery  in  it  at  this 
time. 

Dr.  Palmer  is  aiso  President  of  the  San  Francisco  City 
and  County  Homoeopathic    Society  and   ex- President  of 


202  DR-   CORA  BELLE  BREWSTER. 

the  California  State  Homoeopathic  Society,  and  he  is  con- 
nected with  other  leading  institutions  of  San  Francisco. 

He  has  now  a  large  surgical  practice,  and  as  a  gynaecol- 
ogist is  well  known.  He  is  a  careful  and  safe  operator, 
and  much  of  his  remarkable  success  as  a  surgeon  must  be 
attributed  to  his  caution  and  strict  observance  of  cleanli- 
ness. He  is  a  conscientious  practitioner,  and  socially  is  a 
very  popular  citizen. 

In  the  year  1868,  in  St.  Clair,  Mich.,  he  was  married  to 
Susan  C.  St.  Clair,  who  is  a  cousin  of  the  wife  of  the  cele- 
brated Professor  Bigger,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio.  They  have 
one  son  and  two  daughters. 

Dr.  Palmer  is  in  the  prime  of  life,  and  many  years  lie 
before  him  for  great  usefulness. 


CORA  BELLE  BREWSTER,  M.D., 

BALTIMORE,    MD. 

Cora  Belle  Brewster,  M.D.,  was  born  in  Almond, 
Allegheny  County,  New  York,  September  6,  1859. 

She  received  a  portion  of  her  education  in  Alfred  Uni- 
versity, where  she  remained  for  five  years,  during  which 
time  she  applied  herself  studiously,  and  received  a  thorough 
English  education,  fitting  her  to  accept  a  position  in  a 
school  as  teacher,  which  she  filled  with  credit  for  several 
years.  The  last  position  which  she  held  as  teacher  was  in 
the  high  school  in  Smithport,  Pa. 

In  1877  she  went  West,  and  took  a  special  course  in  the 
Northwestern  University.  While  studying  in  that  insti- 
tution she  decided  to  abandon  pedagogy,  and  turn  her 
attention  to  the  study  of  medicine.  She  was  graduated 
from  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  (Boston, 
Mass.)  in  May,  1886.  During  her  course  of  study  she 
spent  eighteen  months  in  Bellevue  Hospital,  New  York 


4PcTU*-  /zL&L  /J/U^^J^L  A(UP% 


DR.   CORA  BELLE  BREWSTER. 


203 


City,  where  the  field  was  extensive  and  abundant  oppor- 
tunities were  presented  for  obtaining  valuable  experience 
in  the  various  treatments  of  the  numerous  cases  that  crowd 
that  famous  institution. 

In  1 89 1  she  went  abroad  and  studied  in  Paris,  under 
Professor  Charcot,  in  nervous  diseases  and  electricity. 

She  is  a  woman  of  great  force  of  character,  strong  per- 
sonality, cautious  and  careful  as  an  operator,  with  re- 
markable success  in  saving  the  lives  of  her  patients.  Much 
of  her  operative  work  is  done  in  her  private  sanatorium 
and  residence,  No.  1027  Madison  Avenue,  Baltimore,  Md. 
Her  sanatorium  is  arranged  for  giving  steam  baths,  hot  air 
and  all  medicated  baths ;  it  also  contains  a  sun-room  made 
of  glass,  for  giving  sun-baths.  The  building  is  well  venti- 
lated, and  the  heating  and  furnishing  are  of  the  most  sani- 
tary description. 

Dr.  Brewster  is  a  member  of  the  State  Homoeopathic 
Medical  Society,  Maryland,  and  District  of  Columbia 
Clinical  Society,  and  Electro-therapeutical  Society. 

She  commenced, the  publication  of  a  medical  journal, 
The  Baltimore  Family  Health  Journal,  the  name  of  which 
was  changed  in  1891  to  the  Homoeopathic  Advocate  and 
Health  Journal. 

In  1890  Dr.  Brewster  was  elected  gynaecological  surgeon 
to  the  Homoeopathhic  Hospital  and  Free  Dispensary  of 
Maryland,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Maryland  Homceo- 
pathic Medical  Society.  She  studied  from  both  the  old 
and  new  school  of  medicine,  accepting  the  principles  and 
practice  of  the  latter,  although  when  necessary  she  resorts 
to  the  remedies  prescribed  in  the  allopathic  schools.  She 
has  ever  advocated  a  broad  and  unrestrained  treatment  to 
insure  the  recovery  of  her  patients,  using  the  best  features 
of  both  schools. 

She  possesses  great  activity,  both  mentally  and  physi- 
cally, and  devotes  a  certain  portion  of  her  time  to  literary 
work.     She  has  contributed  several  valuable  articles  to  the 


204 


DR.  CORA  BELLE  BREWSTER. 


medical  journals,  and  has  achieved  marked  success  as  a 
medical  writer,  surgeon,  editor,  and  practising  physician. 

Dr.  Brewster  descended  on  both  sides  from  the  best  Eng- 
lish and  American  ancestry,  tracing  the  line  of  descent  on 
her  father's  side  to  William  Brewster,  ruling  elder  of  the 
Pilgrim  company  that  founded  New  Plymouth,  the  parent 
colony  of  New  England,  in  the  year  1620.  Elder  Brewster's 
varied,  self-sacrificing,  and  eventful  life  has  given  his  name 
a  place  in  the  history  of  our  land  that  grows  brighter  and 
brighter  through  the  broad  expanse  of  time. 

Daniel  Webster,  in  his  speech  made  at  the  Pilgrim 
Festival,  New  York,  1850,  pays  a  fitting  tribute  to  Elder 
Brewster  : 

''Gentlemen,  there  was  in  ancient  times  a  ship  that 
carried  Jason  to  the  acquisition  of  the  Golden  Fleece. 
There  was  a  flag-ship  at  the  battle  of  Actium  which  made 
Augustus  Caesar  master  of  the  world.  In  modern  times 
there  have  been  flag-ships  which  have  carried  Hawke,  and 
Howe,  and  Nelson,  of  the  other  continent,  and  Hull,  and 
Decatur,  and  Stewart,  of  this,  to  triumph.  What  are  they 
all,  in  remembrance  among  men,  to  that  little  bark,  the 
Mayflower,  which  reached  these  shores  in  1620?  Yes! 
brethren,  that  Mayflower  was  a  flower  destined  to  be  of 
perpetual  bloom. 

"Gentlemen,  brethren  of  New  England,  whom  I  have 
come  some  hundreds  of  miles  to  meet  this  night,  let  me 
present  to  you  one  of  the  most  distinguished  of  those  per- 
sonages who  came  hither  on  the  deck  of  the  Mayflower. 
Let  me  fancy  that  I  now  see  Elder  William  Brewster  enter- 
ing the  door  at  the  further  end  of  the  hall ;  a  tall,  erect 
figure,  of  plain  dress,  with  a  respectful  bow,  mild  and 
cheerful,  but  no  merriment  that  reaches  beyond  a  smile. 
'Are  ye,'  he  would  say,  with  a  voice  of  exultation,  and 
yet  softened  with  melancholy,  '  are  ye  our  children  ?  Does 
this  scene  of  refinement,  of  elegance,  of  riches,  of  luxury, 
does  all  this  come  from  our  labors?     Is  this  magnificent 


ti^LM-eis. 


BR.   GEOR GE  BE TTON  MASSE  Y. 


205 


city,  New  York,  the  like  of  which  we  never  saw  nor  heard 
of  on  either  continent,  is  this  but  an  offshoot  from  Ply- 
mouth Rock?'" 

"  Juis  jam  locus     .     .     . 
Juae  regis  in  terris  nostri  non  plena  laboris." 

Dr.  Brewster,  although  young  in  years,  is  old  in  the  ex- 
perience of  her  profession,  and  has  won  an  enviable  name 
as  a  successful  operator.  She  is  of  commanding  size  and 
striking  appearance.  She  has  a  warm,  impulsive  nature, 
and  a  cordial  manner.  These  characteristics  she  rightfully 
inherits  from  her  distinguished  ancestors. 


GEORGE  BETTON  MASSEY,  M.D., 

PHILADELPHIA,    PA. 

Dr.  George  Betton  Massey  was  born  near  the  village 
of  Massey  in  Kent  County,  Maryland,  November  15,  1856, 
his  ancestors  having  been  people  of  prominence  in  that 
part  of  the  State  for  nearly  two  hundred  years.  Since  by 
intermarriage  his  father  was  descended  from  all  four  sons 
of  the  founder  of  the  family,  who  settled  in  Maryland  in 
1 714,  he  may  be  said  to  be  of  distinctly  American  parent- 
age, as  well  as  a  sharer  with  the  younger  Darwin  in  the 
disputed  advantages  of  restricted  heredity. 

His  early  education  was  mainly  gained  under  the  guid- 
ance of  an  intellectual  mother,  nee  Betton,  of  Tallahassee, 
Fla.,  assisted  by  governesses,  under  whose  stimulus  an 
early  love  of  scientific  subjects  was  developed.  The  close 
of  the  war  made  profound  changes  in  this  slave-holding 
section,  resulting  in  the  subject  of  this  sketch  seeking  oc- 
cupation and  further  opporttmities  for  self-education  as 
teacher  in  a  country  school  in  Anne  Arundel  County, 
Maryland,  while  yet  a  month  was  wanting  to  the  comple- 


206  DR-  GEORGE  BETTON  MASSE  Y. 

tion  of  his  sixteenth  year.  The  disciplinary  qualities 
necessary  to  success  in  this  field  being  but  slightly  devel- 
oped, it  was  abandoned  at  the  end  of  the  school  year,  and 
in  the  autumn  of  1S73  ne  went  to  his  maternal  uncle,  the 
late  Dr.  George  W.  Betton,  of  Tallahassee,  Fla  ,  and  began 
a  systematic  year  of  preliminary  medical  studies.  The 
winter  of  1874— '75  was  passed  as  a  medical  student  at  the 
Medical  College  of  South  Carolina,  at  Charleston,  under 
the  kind  notice  of  Drs.  Kinloch,  F.  Peyre  Porcher,  and 
Middleton  Michel,  who  were  doing  their  best  for  medical 
education  under  adverse  circumstances,  and  where  he  took 
a  prize  for  proficiency  in  chemistry.  The  final  year  of  his 
undergraduate  medical  education  was  passed  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Pennsylvania,  at  which  institution  he  was  gradu- 
ated in  1876. 

His  first  experience  in  practice  was  as  assistant  to  his 
preceptor  in  Tallahassee,  but  an  opportunity  offering  for  a 
broader  career  he  accepted  the  position  of  Assistant  Physi- 
cian in  the  State  Hospital  for  the  Insane  at  Danville,  Pa., 
which  he  retained  until  1879,  when  he  resigned  to  enter 
private  practice  in  Philadelphia. 

During  the  earlier  years  of  his  practice  in  Philadelphia 
Dr.  Massey  was  for  a  time  an  assistant  in  the  gynaecologi- 
cal clinic  of  Professor  William  Goodell  at  the  University, 
and  also  continued  his  studies  in  nervous  diseases  by  serving 
as  Assistant  Physician  in  the  Orthopaedic  Hospital  and  In- 
firmary for  Nervous  Diseases,  in  which  latter  institution  he 
had  the  highly  valued  opportunity  of  observing  the  work 
of  that  world-famed  authority,  Dr.  S.  Weir  Mitchell,  and 
his  able  associates,  Drs.  Wharton  Sinkler  and  Morris  J. 
Lewis.  About  this  time  (in  1880)  the  physicians  of  the 
infirmary  felt  the  need  of  a  more  systematic  administra- 
tion of  electricity  to  its  patients,  and  a  new  position  of 
electro-therapeutist  was  accordingly  created  by  the  Board, 
to  which  Dr.  Massey  was  the  first  appointee,  his  special 
predilection  for  the  study  of  physics  from  boyhood  deter- 


DR.  GEORGE  BETTON  MASSE  Y. 


207 


mining  his  acceptance.  This  position  was  held  by  him 
until  1887,  giving  unrivaled  opportunities  for  the  study  of 
electricity  as  a  curative  agent  in  nervous  diseases,  not 
only  through  the  large  clinics  that  were  served,  but  by 
reason  of  the  fact  that  he  became  the  electrical  assistant 
of  Dr.  Mitchell,  whose  early  advocacy  of  electricity  in 
medicine  did  so  much  to  rescue  it  from  quackery. 

Electricity  had  in  fact  been  recognized  at  this  time  for 
years  as  a  remedy  in  nervous  diseases,  but  those  using  it 
seemed  to  think  that  its  only  practical  value  was  as  a  nerve 
and  muscle  stimulant.  When,  therefore,  the  news  came 
from  Paris  about  1885  that  Professor  Georges  Apostoli  was 
successfully  employing  it  to  reduce  fibroid  tumors  of  the 
uterus  to  an  innocuous  condition  much  incredulity  was 
expressed,  and  this  was  even  felt  by  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  who  has  since  become  the  most  prominent  Ameri- 
can advocate  of  the  method.  The  continued  insistance 
upon  the  importance  of  his  discovery  by  Apostoli,  never- 
theless, finally  awakened  his  curiosity,  and  determined 
him  to  try  the  experiment.  He  resigned  the  position  at 
the  infirmary,  but  the  new  position  to  which  he  was  ap- 
pointed at  this  time  (in  1887),  that  of  Physician  to  the 
Department  of  Diseases  of  the  Mind  and  Nervous  System 
at  the  Howard  Hospital,  did  not  furnish  the  requisite  ma- 
terial. It  was  in  this  emergency  that  he  was  assisted  by 
the  conscientious  philanthropy  and  true  scientific  zeal  of 
Dr.  T.  Hewson  Bradford,  who  placed  at  his  disposal  a 
number  of  cases  in  his  service  at  the  Out-patient  Depart- 
ment of  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital.  He  was  here  enabled 
to  prosecute  his  studies  into  the  value  of  electricity  in 
other  affections  of  women  as  well  as  fibroid  tumors,  and 
he  soon  obtained  important  data  on  the  subject,  which 
were  later  embodied  in  a  work  on  Electricity  in  the  Dis- 
eases of  Women,  the  first  complete  treatise  on  the  subject  to 
be  published  in  any  language.  His  transference  later  to 
the  position  of  Physician  to  the  Gynaecological  Depart- 


208  DR.  A.  MILES  TAYLOR. 

ment  at  the  Howard  Hospital  permitted  a  continuance  of 
the  work  at  that  institution,  where  he  has  since  maintained 
a  clinic  for  the  demonstration  of  electro-therapeutics  in 
gynaecology. 

Dr.  Massey's  long  service  and  earnest  devotion  to  the 
specialty  of  electricity  in  medicine,  and,  in  particular,  his 
advocacy  of  the  merits  of  Apostoli's  discovery  before  local, 
state,  and  national  medical  societies,  and  the  Pan-American 
Medical  Congress,  have  given  him  a  national  prominence 
in  his  specialty,  which  has  been  maintained  by  a  series  of 
papers  and  journal  contributions  too  numerous  to  mention, 
in  addition  to  the  treatise  alluded  to,  which  has  reached  its 
third  edition.  His  zeal  for  the  advancement  of  electro- 
therapeutics was  most  conspicuously  shown  by  his  taking 
the  initiative  in  the  formation  of  the  American  Electro- 
therapeutic  Association  in  1890,  of  which  Association  he 
became  President  in  189c,  and  which  he  still  serves  as  a 
member  of  its  executive  council. 

Dr.  Massey  was  married  in  1885  to  Miss  Harriet  L. 
Stairs,  of  Philadelphia,  and  has  two  sons  and  a  daughter. 


A.  MILES   TAYLOR,  M.D., 

OAKLAND,  CAL. 

A  noble  life  put  fairly  on  record  acts  like  an  inspiration 
to  others.  Life  is  a  mission,  every  other  definition  of  it 
is  false  and  misleading,  and  the  secret  of  success  in  life 
is  for  a  man  to  be  qualified  for  his  opportunity  when  it 
presents  itself.  The  name  of  Dr.  Albert  Miles  Taylor  is 
one  of  the  most  promising  in  the  field  of  abdominal  sur- 
gery. He  has  received  from  nature  a  striking,  well-pro- 
portioned figure,  noble  and  commanding  features,  a  pierc- 
ing glance,  a  powerful  and  sagacious  understanding,  a 
strong  character,  with  a  warm  and  genial  countenance,  and 


DR  A.   MILES  TAYLOR. 


209 


generous  even  to  a  fault.  His  life  may  be  briefly  sum- 
marized as  follows  : 

He  was  born  December  31,  1858,  on  the  border  of 
Kentucky  and  Tennessee;  he  is  therefore  in  his  thirty- 
seventh  year,  and  of  pure  Saxon  stock.  He  is  just  bud- 
ding into  manhood,  full  of  hope  and  ambition,  with  a 
post  of  honor  and  a  record  in  abdominal  surgery  unsur- 
passed by  any  of  his  age,  and  a  promising  future  stretch- 
ing out  before  him. 

He  is  the  son  of  S.  C.  Taylor,  and  was  an  orphan  at  the 
age  of  six  years.  Not  having  a  silver  spoon  he  received 
his  schooling  at  night  schools,  later  in  district  schools. 
He  applied  himself  closely  to  his  studies,  for  while  a  boy 
he  saw  that  he  would  be  nothing  without  a  good  education. 
Up  to  the  time  of  his  graduation  in  medicine  at  McDowell 
College,  now  known  as  the  Missouri  Medical  College, 
which  college  was  founded  by  the  famous  Joseph  Nashe 
McDowell,  he  studied  in  Chicago  and  St.  Louis  colleges. 
After  graduating  he  studied  in  New  York  and  Europe, 
where  he  received  more  honors.  He  began  practicing 
medicine  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  in  the  Eastern 
States,  where  he  had  charge  of  hospitals.  In  1884  he 
thought  he  would  go  North  and  try  Victoria,  British  Co- 
lumbia. He  practiced  there  for  two  years,  but  found  the 
winters  too  severe  for  one  raised  in  the  sunny  South. 

In  1886  he  turned  his  face  southward,  stopping  at  Oak- 
land, California,  where  he  located,  making  abdominal  sur- 
gery a  specialty.  Here,  as  in  other  places  where  he  had 
practiced,  he  met  with  that  success  which  is  only  gained 
by  a  few.  He  soon  saw  the  difficulty  of  operating  in  pri- 
vate houses  and  hospitals  that  were  not  strictly  under  his 
authority.  In  1891  he  again  went  East  to  study  hospitals. 
After  doing  a  good  amount  of  work  there,  he  returned  to 
Oakland  and  opened  a  private  hospital  of  19  rooms;  this 
was  soon  filled.  After  using  this  hospital  for  three  years 
he  found  that  he  could  not  accommodate  those  that  were 

VOL.  II.  — 14 


2io  DR.  KENNETH  A.  J.   MACKENZIE. 

sent  to  him  from  the  whole  Pacific  Slope,  and  would  have 
to  build  another.  After  much  studying  of  other  hospitals 
he  formed  his  designs  and  is  now  building  one  of  the 
finest  hospitals  on  the  coast.  The  hospital  is  located  in 
one  of  the  finest  sections  of  the  city  of  Oakland,  on  the 
corner  of  Thirty-first  Street  and  Telegraph  Avenue.  The 
hospital  contains  50  wards,  occupying  4  floors.  It  will  be 
heated  by  hot  water,  with  all  the  latest  improvements.  As 
this  is  a  hospital  for  abdominal  surgery  the  operating 
theatre  will  be  lined  with  glass  in  nickel-plated  framing, 
both  top,  sides,  and  floors.  In  this  way  he  hopes  to  keep 
it  perfectly  antiseptic. 

The  Doctor  has  also  organized  a  training-school  for 
nurses,  who  are  lectured  daily  by  the  hospital  staff  of 
physicians  and  surgeons,  which  is  composed  of  Dr.  Taylor 
and  his  assistants. 

The  hospital  will  be  known  as  the  "  Taylor  Sanatorium." 
He  will  endeavor  to  make  the  results  of  operations  per- 
formed here  second  to  none. 


KENNETH  A.  J.  MACKENZIE,    M.D.,  CM., 
L.R.C.P.  and  S.,  Edin., 

PORTLAND,  OREGON. 

Dr.  Kenneth  A.  J  Mackenzie  was  born  in  1859,  at 
Cumberland  House,  Manitoba,  the  son  of  Roderick  and 
Jane  Mackenzie,  of  Melbourne,  Quebec,  Canada.  His 
father  was  a  chief  factor  of  the  Honorable  Hudson's  Bay 
Company.  He  is  a  descendant  of  a  very  old  Highland 
family  of  Scotland  which  forfeited  their  landed  possessions 
on  account  of  their  ultra-loyalty  to  Prince  Charles. 

Dr.  Mackenzie  received  his  early  education  in  Scotland, 
where  he  was  sent  with  an  older  brother  to  prosecute  the 
studies  of  medicine  and  civil  engineering,  respectively. 


DR.  KENNETH  A.  J.  MACKENZIE.  2I I 

The  death  of  his  brother  led  to  his  return  to  his  native 
country,  where,  after  receiving  a  complete  education  in  the 
High  School  of  Montreal  and  Upper  Canada  College  of 
Toronto,  he  began  the  study  of  medicine  in  the  McGill 
University,  graduating  in  1881.  He  subsequently  fol- 
lowed his  studies  in  Edinburgh,  where  he  took  the  double 
qualifications,  and  afterward  spent  a  year  in  Paris,  Vienna, 
and  Berlin,  in  preparation  for  practice. 

He  began  his  career  as  a  practitioner  of  medicine  in 
Portland,  Oregon,  in  1883.  He  was  appointed  Professor 
of  Theory  and  Practice  of  Medicine  shortly  after  his  ar- 
rival and  received  an  appointment  on  the  attending  staff 
of  St.  Vincent's  Hospital.  He  has  been  and  is,  in  the 
strictest  sense  of  the  word,  a  general  practitioner,  having 
a  strong  leaning,  however,  for  the  practice  of  surgery.  In 
the  domain  of  gynaecological  surgery  he  has  done  a  great 
deal  of  work,  and  there  are  but  few  of  the  major  operations 
in  abdominal  surgery  that  he  has  not  repeatedly  performed. 
Dr.  Mackenzie  is  Chief  Surgeon  of  the  Oregon  Railroad 
and  Navigation  Company,  the  largest  system  in  Oregon 
and  the  Northwest. 

He  was  married  in  1886  to  Cora  Scott,  daughter  of 
Pliny  Hardy,  a  distinguished  jurist  of  New  Orleans,  and 
has  one  son  and  two  daughters. 

Dr.  Mackenzie  has  taken  a  great  interest  in  medical 
education,  and  in  promoting  the  interests  of  the  medical 
profession. 

He  was  once  President  of  the  Oregon  State  Medical 
Society,  and  takes  a  warm  interest  in  the  Portland  Medi- 
cal Society,  to  the  Transactions  of  which  he  is  a  frequent 
contributor. 


2 1 2  DR.  J.  ED  WIN  MICHAEL. 

J.  EDWIN  MICHAEL,  M.D., 

BALTIMORE,    MD. 

Dr.  Jacob  Edwin  Michael  was  born  near  Michaels- 
ville,  Harford  County,  Maryland,  on  May  13,  1848.  He 
was  the  eldest  son  of  the  late  Jacob  J.  Michael,  a  most 
respected  citizen  and  large  land-owner  of  Harford  County, 
Md.  He  was  reared  on  his  father's  farm  near  the  Chesa- 
peake Bay,  amidst  natural  surroundings  of  great  beauty. 
Force  and  character  thus  were  given  to  his  early  life, 
which  developed  the  marked  characteristics  of  his  later 
life. 

As  a  boy  he  had  passed  much  of  his  time  on  the  shores 
and  waters  of  the  Chesapeake.  He  ever  after  loved  a 
seafaring  life.  His  tastes  were  rural,  and  he  keenly  en- 
joyed his  frequent  visits  to  the  home  of  his  boyhood. 

He  received  his  preliminary  education  at  St.  Timothy's 
Hall,  Maryland,  and  at  the  Newark  Academy,  Delaware. 
He  next  entered  Princeton  College,  from  which  he  was 
graduated  in  1871.  Whilst  at  Princeton  he  was  distin- 
guished for  his  skill  in  all  of  the  athletic  exercises  of  the 
college.  At  the  time  of  his  graduation,  and  when  in 
thorough  physical  training,  he  was  probably  the  most 
superb  specimen  of  physical  manhood  ever  graduated 
from  Princeton. 

He  entered  the  medical  department  of  the  University  of 
Maryland  in  October,  187 1,  and  was  graduated  in  March, 
1873.  As  a  medical  student  he  was  greatly  admired  and 
easily  stood  in  the  front  rank,  being  the  leader  of  one  of 
the  college  factions  for  the  presidency  of  the  class.  After 
graduation  he  went  abroad  and  passed  the  subsequent  year 
in  study  in  the  best  Continental  hospitals  and  schools. 

His  foreign  study  was  of  great  advantage  in  an  educa- 
tional way,  and  exercised  a  large  influence  in  the  develop- 


,     cdUA<L<      c^U^A-^^CC^ 


DR.  J.  ED  WIN  MICHAEL.  2 1 3 

ment  of  his  professional  career.  It  early  opened  to  him 
the  doorway  to  professional  advancement,  and  whilst  other 
men  of  his  class  were  toiling  for  professional  recognition 
he  at  once  stepped  to  the  front  rank  and  to  distinguished 
professional  honors. 

In  the  fall  of  1874,  soon  after  his  return  from  Europe, 
he  was  appointed  Demonstrator  of  Anatomy  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Maryland.  This  position  at  once  offered  oppor- 
tunities for  advancement,  and  in  1880  he  was  promoted  to 
the  Chair  of  Anatomy  and  Clinical  Surgery.  He  thus  early 
entered  upon  a  career  as  a  surgeon  and  teacher  which 
brought  to  him  both  success  and  distinction. 

As  a  surgeon  he  was  cool,  painstaking,  and  skillful,  and 
in  a  few  years  had  taken  a  high  rank  as  an  operator. 

As  a  teacher  he  was  a  success  from  the  beginning.  His 
command  of  language  and  his  delivery  were  of  a  high 
order,  so  that  he  became  at  once  an  exceedingly  popular 
lecturer  and  teacher.  He  was  well  equipped  for  profes- 
sional work. 

In  1887  he  was  elected  Dean  of  the  Faculty  of  the  Uni- 
versity, which  position  he  continued  to  hold  up  to  the  date 
of  his  death,  which  occurred  December  7,  1895. 

In  1890  he  resigned  the  Chair  of  Anatomy  and  Clinical 
Surgery  and  was  elected  to  the  Chair  of  Obstetrics. 

He  edited  the  Maryland  Medical  Journal  for  six  or 
eight  months.  He  was  elected  President  of  the  Clinical 
Society  of  Maryland  and  occupied  the  office  for  one  year. 
At  the  meeting  of  the  Medical  and  Chirurgical  Faculty  of 
Maryland,  in  April  of  the  year  1895,  he  was  honored  with 
the  Presidency  of  the  Faculty. 

Dr.  Michael's  courage,  hopefulness,  and  unselfishness 
led  him  to  speak  lightly  of  his  ailments,  and  very  few,  if 
any,  but  those  very  close  to  him,  were  aware  of  this  seri- 
ous condition  of  his  health.  He  had  always  been  proud 
of  his  great  physical  vigor,  and  was  reluctant  to  accept  the 
indications  of  chronic  disease   undermining  his  health. 


2 1 4  DR.  J.  ED  WIN  MIC  HA  EL. 

He  continued  actively  at  his  professional  duties  when 
many  men  of  less  courage  and  pride  would  have  found 
comfort  in  freedom  from  care  and  work.  He  struggled 
to  the  last,  as  he  had  worked  during  his  entire  professional 
life,  proud,  courageous,  and  anxious  to  measure  up  to  his 
responsibilities  But,  with  a  courage  which  few  possess, 
he  yielded  to  the  law  of  nature's  God  that  obedience  and 
resignation  which  belong  to  the  strong  and  great.  If  he 
had  pain  and  regrets,  in  the  contemplation  of  his  early 
end,  they  were  born  of  concern  and  love  for  others  and 
not  for  himself.  He  was  a  most  devoted  husband  and 
father. 

Dr.  Michael  was  a  man  of  striking  physical,  intellectual, 
and  personal  characteristics.  As  he  towered  above  the 
great  mass  of  mankind  in  stature,  so  in  character  and 
intellect  he  stood  above  the  shoulders  of  the  great  ma- 
jority. His  mind  was  vigorous,  active,  and  strong  His 
judgment  of  men,  of  events  and  subjects  was  broad  and 
accurate.  His  opinions  were  carefully  formed,  just,  and 
positive.  He  was  narrow  in  no  sense,  but  broad,  liberal, 
and  tolerant.  There  was  none  of  the  sham  and  pretence  in 
his  make-up.  He  was  firm  and  decided  in  his  convictions, 
and  upheld  them  with  courage  and  tenacity. 

His  mind  was  dominated  by  a  large  intelligence,  which 
recognized  the  highest  claims  of  professional  duty,  of 
citizenship,  and  of  friendship. 

Dr.  Michael  was  a  member  of  the  American  Surgical 
Association,  of  the  Southern  Surgical  and  Gynaecological 
Association,  of  the  American  Medical  Association,  and  of 
the  various  local  medical  societies  in  Baltimore.  He  was 
also  a  member  of  the  University  Club  and  of  the  Monthly 
Medical  Reunion. 

Dr.  Michael  was  married  to  Miss  Susie  Mitchell,  of  Har- 
ford County,  in  December,  1875.  Six  children  have 
blessed  this  union,  four  sons  and  two  daughters. 


crAtj2J\_, 


DR.  E.   P.  FOWLER.  2i$ 

E.  P.  FOWLER,  M.D., 

NEW   YORK,   N     Y. 

Edward  Payson  Fowler,  M.D.,  one  of  the  most  emi- 
nent physicians  of  New  York  City,  was  born  at  Cohocton, 
Steuben  County,  New  York,  November  30,  1834,  being 
the  youngest  son  of  Judge  Horace  and  Mary  Fowler.  He 
is  descended  from  old  Puritan  stock,  being  the  sixth  lineal 
descendant  of  William  Fowler,  who  came  to  Massachusetts 
in  1630.  His  grandfather,  Eliphalet  Fowler,  entered  the 
Revolutionary  Army  as  a  private  and  retired  with  the  rank 
of  major.  His  mother  was  the  grandniece  of  Mary 
Philipse,  the  first  love  of  George  Washington,  whom  her 
parents  took  to  Europe  to  break  off  the  attentions  of  the 
young  Virginian,  then  unknown  to  fame. 

Dr.  Fowler  entered  the  New  York  Medical  College  in 
1 85 1,  and  was  graduated  in  1855  as  first-prize  man,  having 
passed  a  brilliant  course.  He  immediately  entered  into 
partnership  with  Drs.  Gray  and  Hull,  who  had  then  per- 
haps the  most  extensive  and  lucrative  practice  in  New 
York  City.  In  consequence  his  practice  became  unusually 
large  almost  from  its  commencement. 

In  addition  to  the  "Old  School"  system  of  medicine 
he  studied  homoeopathy  and  practiced  it  in  connection 
with  the  former,  looking  upon  the  two  systems  as  compo- 
nent parts  of  a  unit.  During  his  forty  years  of  practice 
he  has  evinced  the  possession  of  skill  and  ability  of  such 
high  order  as  to  raise  him  to  the  highest  ranks  of  the  pro- 
fession, his  practice  being  among  the  best  class  of  New 
Yorkers,  including  many  of  the  old  Knickerbocker  families. 

He  was  always  distinctly  in  opposition  to  sectarianism 
in  medicine,  declaring  that  medicine  is  a  unit  and  should 
be  dealt  with  as  such.  His  views  in  this  direction  were 
recognized  by  the  thinking  part   of  the  "Old   School," 


2I6  DR.E.   P.  FOWLER. 

which  in  1878  adopted  those  rules  for  New  York  State 
known  as  the  "  New  Code."  Under  this  the  only  quali- 
fication demanded  for  a  physician  is  the  legally  required 
medical  education,  and  the  "  Old  School  "  became  prac- 
tically the  Comprehensive  School.  This  action  was  not 
indorsed  by  the  homceopathists,  and  consequently  Dr. 
Fowler  withdrew  from  his  former  connection  and  joined 
the  comprehensive  school  of  medicine,  not  as  indicating  a 
change  in  his  views,  but  a  consistent  agreement  with  his 
long-expressed  doctrine  of  the  unity  of  medical  practice. 

Dr.  Fowler  served  in  the  Ward's  Island  and  Hahne- 
mann Hospitals,  and  in  1887  received  the  honorary 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine  from  the  Board  of  Regents 
of  the  State  of  New  York,  and  the  appointment  of 
Examiner  in  Anatomy  in  the  first  Board  of  New  York 
State  Examiners  for  conferring  medical  degrees.  He  was 
one  of  the  founders  of  the  New  York  Medico-Chirur- 
gical  Society  and  served  as  its  President.  He  is  also  a 
member  of  the  New  York  Academy  of  Medicine,  the  New 
York  Neurological  Society,  the  Medical  Society  of  the 
County  of  New  York,  and  other  societies.  His  attention 
has  been  devoted  assiduously  to  his  profession,  but  he  is 
unusually  well  versed  in  business  affairs.  Politically  he  is 
an  ardent  Republican,  and  is  a  member  of  the  Union 
League  Club. 

Dr.  Fowler  was  married  in  1873  t0  Miss  M.  Louise 
Mumfurd,  now  deceased,  two  children,  Edward  Mumford 
Fowler  and  Louise  Mumford  Fowler,  surviving. 

In  addition  to  his  city  home  he  has  a  delightful  summer 
residence  at  Cooperstown,  New  York.  Personally  he  is  a 
man  of  genial  manners  and  benevolent  disposition,  qual- 
ities which  have  gained  him  the  respect  and  esteem  of  all 
with  whom  he  has  come  into  contact. 

He  has  passed  much  time  abroad  in  travel  and  study, 
and  has  contributed  generously  to  medical  literature,  and 
is  the  author  of  valuable  medical  works,  including  Etiology 


DR.  AMELIA   W.  LINES. 


217 


and  General  History  of  Scarlet  Fever ;  Pseudo  Typhoid 
Fever ;  Certain  Maladies  of  the  Heart ;  Abnormalities  of  the 
Cerebral  Convolutions ;  etc.  He  has  also  translated  from 
the  French  and  German  such  works  as  Charcot's  Localiza- 
tion in  Diseases  of  the  Brain;  Richert's  Physiology  and 
Histology  of  the  Cerebral  Convolutions ;  and  Benedikt's 
Anatomical  Study  of  the  Brains  of  Criminals. 

He  has  in  addition  delivered  many  instructive  lectures 
before  medical  bodies,  his  discourses  showing  deep  study 
of  the  subjects  under  discussion. 

[The  foregoing  sketch  of  Edward  Payson  Fowler,  M.D., 
has,  by  permission,  been  taken  from  Makers  of  New  York, 
published  by  L.  R.  Hamersly  &  Co.,  Philadelphia,  Pa., 
1895. — The  Author.] 


AMELIA   W.  LINES,  M.D., 

BROOKLYN,    N.    Y. 

Forty  years  ago  Dr.  Amelia  W.  Lines,  of  Washington 
Avenue,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  came  to  this  city.  The  woman 
physician  was  entirely  unknown  here,  and  Dr.  Lines  was 
the  first  to  invade  Brooklyn.  At  the  end  of  four  decades, 
although  her  hair  has  silvered,  she  is  still  at  her  post,  while 
many  sisters  have  followed  in  her  path,  and  the  desire  of 
her  heart,  a  city  hospital  controlled  entirely  by  women, 
has  been  realized  —  namely,  the  Memorial  Hospital  for 
Women. 

Dr.  Lines's  entrance  into  Brooklyn  was  made  so  quietly 
that  even  her  neighbors  did  not  know  for  some  time  that 
one  of  those  dreadful  creatures,  a  woman  doctor,  was  in 
their  midst.  Her  quiet  entrance  was  indicative  of  her 
career.    Unassumingly  her  plan  of  action  was  carried  on 


2i8  DR.  AMELIA  W.  LINES 

until  doctors  who  had  been  mildly  indifferent,  because  it 
was  "only  a  woman  with  a  bee  in  her  bonnet,"  grew  to 
honor  the  woman  and  to  respect  the  bee. 

Dr.  Lines  came  here,  not  only  in  the  hard  position  of  a 
pioneer  in  woman's  work,  but  also  as  the  herald  of  two 
new  schools  of  medical  treatment.  Electricity  and  the 
water-cure  were  practically  unknown  to  Brooklyn  nearly 
a  half- century  ago,  and  it  was  a  woman  who  acknowledged 
them  as  legitimate  means  of  cure. 

Dr.  Lines  was  regularly  graduated  from  the  College  of 
Hygiene-Therapeutics  of  New  York,  and  for  ten  years  she 
practiced  in  Brooklyn  without  giving  a  dose  of  medicine. 
All  the  advocates  of  the  water-cure  flocked  to  Dr.  Lines, 
and  her  work  proved  successful.  Some  of  the  most  emi- 
nent physicians  met  her  in  consultation.  Even  disbe- 
lievers in  the  water-theory  admitted  that  cures  were  made 
by  her.  Many  cures  were  effected  in  Dr.  Lines' s  own 
house,  and  under  plumbing  conditions  which  made  the 
task  a  gigantic  one. 

Gradually  the  Doctor  realized  that  one  or  two  schools 
of  treatment  were  not  applicable  to  all  minds,  and  she 
embraced  homoeopathy,  which  school  she  has  more  gen- 
erally used  the  last  half  of  her  life. 

Dr.  Lines's  entrance  to  the  medical  profession  is  inter- 
esting. She  had  never  given  the  subject  any  thought  until 
one  day  the  desk  of  a  brother,  a  surgeon,  who  had  died  in 
the  British  Navy,  came  home.  As  soon  as  Mrs.  Lines, 
who  was  then  a  young  married  woman  of  about  twenty- 
two,  saw  the  roll  of  diplomas,  some  bearing  names  famous 
in  the  medical  world,  she  wanted  them.  It  could  scarcely 
be  considered  a  matter  of  sentiment,  as  Mrs.  Lines  had 
not  seen  her  brother  since  her  second  year.  A  few  years 
after  this  the  first  water-cure  journal  was  published.  Mrs. 
Lines  was  instantly  attracted  to  it,  and  gave  its  contents 
serious  study.  Soon  she  began  practicing  the  suggestions 
from  it  in  her  little  family,  and  in  a  short  time  threw  her 


.. 


DR.  E.  R.  BRYANT.  2IQ 

medicine  chest  away.  Neighbors  frequently  came  to  her 
for  suggestions. 

Shortly  after  this  Mrs.  Lines  saved  her  husband's  life 
when  the  doctors  had  given  him  up  during  an  epidemic 
in  Cleveland.  It  was  but  natural  after  this  that  when 
reverses  came  Mrs.  Lines  should  turn  to  the  practice  of 
hygienic  treatment  as  a  means  of  livelihood.  She  came 
from  the  West,  entered  the  college,  and  settled  in  Brook- 
lyn as  soon  as  she  was  graduated.  Her  husband,  who  was 
converted  during  his  illness,  later  entered  the  college,  and 
became  professor  of  anatomy  and  hygiene  there. 

"It  has  always  seemed  to  me,"  said  Dr.  Lines,  "that 
water  is  nature's  own  medicine,  and  with  proper  food  and 
sunlight  constitutes  all  that  is  required  to  adjust  the  health. 
Still  I  believe  more  and  more  in  the  use  of  medicine,  as  it 
is  given  with  greater  intelligence  now  than  formerly,  and 
there  are  certain  minds  which  not  only  demand  medicine, 
but  want  to  realize  they  are  taking  something.  While  I 
believe  that  what  I  call  nature's  restorers  would  always 
be  sufficient,  I  never  persuade  anyone  to  try  them,  as  I 
realize  any  treatment  must  be  acceptable  to  the  mind  to 
be  efficacious." 

Dr.  Lines  still  holds  her  faith  in  water-treatment,  but  to 
a  large  extent  has  superseded  it  by  electricity,  as  it  is  less 
troublesome  for  patients.  She  owned  the  first  galvanic 
battery  used  for  medical  purposes  in  the  city.  Medical 
journals  of  all  schools  are  widely  read  in  the  Lines's 
household,  where  the  best  in  each  is  keenly  appreciated. 


E.  R.  BRYANT,  Ph.B.,  Ph.M.,  M.D., 

SAN    FRANCISCO,    CAL. 

Dr.  Edgar  Reeve  Bryant  was  born  in  Gilroy,  Santa 
Clara  County,  California,  May  6,  1866.  His  early  train- 
ing and  inclinations  were  those  of  a  child  devoted  to  God- 


220 


DR.  E.   R.  BR  YANT. 


fearing,  Christian  parents.  His  mother,  Henrietta  F. 
Reeve,  who  modestly  but  positively  traces  her  lineage  to 
William  IV.,  King  of  Holland,  is  indeed  a  noble  character, 
of  a  bright,  intellectual,  and  literary  disposition,  ever  noted 
for  her  kind  sympathy  and  generous  philanthropy.  She  has 
sacrificed  all  for  her  family. 

His  father,  Dr.  Berryman  Bryant,  has  always  been  a 
most  prosperous  and  successful  physician  and  surgeon. 
He  has  practiced  medicine  in  California  since  June,  1849, 
and  is  among  the  pioneer,  if  not  the  pioneer,  living  doctors 
of  California.  He  has  always  been  a  student  and  ever 
willing  to  accept  modern  and  advanced  ideas,  and  to-day 
that  grand  old  man  lives,  ripe  in  experience  and  knowledge. 
He  has  won  for  himself  an  enviable  reputation  not  only  as 
a  physician,  but  as  a  surgeon,  having  been  a  railroad  sur- 
geon for  years. 

Not  only  to  his  noble,  loving,  and  Christian  mother, 
but  to  his  indulgent  and  painstaking  father,  does  Dr.  E. 
R.  Bryant  proudly  acknowledge  that  he  owes  all  for  his 
position,  reputation,  and  education. 

E.  R.  Bryant  attended  the  private  and  public  schools 
of  Gilroy  and  San  Jose,  the  High  School  of  Oakland,  and 
was  prepared  for  his  college  examinations  by  Carroll  M. 
Davis,  in  Berkeley.  He  attended  the  University  of  the 
Pacific,  from  which,  after  four  years  of  hard  study,  he  was 
graduated  with  distinction  in  May,  1885,  receiving  the 
degree  of  Bachelor  of  Philosophy.  In  1888  the  honor  of 
delivering  the  "Master's"  oration  on  Commencement 
Day  was  voted  him  unanimously  by  the  Faculty.  He  dis- 
tinguished himself  with  a  fine  address  on  "Evolution  in 
Political  Science,"  and  received  the  Master's  Degree 
from  the  same  institution. 

From  May,  1885,  until  the  same  month  in  1886,  he 
studied  with  his  father,  Dr.  B.  Bryant.  For  years  he  had 
assisted  his  father  in  the  preparation  of  medicines,  ban- 
dages, dressings,  etc.,  and  while  quite  young  had  familiar- 


DR.  E.   R.  BRYANT.  221 

ized  himself  with  the  names  and  usages  of  many  drugs  and 
with  the  various  surgical  procedures  and  dressings,  so  that 
during  the  year  following  his  graduation  from  the  literary 
college  he  was  able  to  understand  and  learn  much  from 
his  father,  who  became  his  friend,  companion,  and  teacher, 
and  who  directed  him  in  anatomy,  chemistry,  physiology, 
and  the  materia  medica,  as  well  as  in  practical  work. 

In  May,  1886,  he  matriculated  in  the  Hahnemann  Hos- 
pital College  of  San  Francisco,  and  continued  his  studies 
there  until  September  of  the  same  year,  when  he  entered 
the  Freshman  Class  of  the  Hahnemann  College  of  Phila- 
delphia, preferring  this  class  to  the  Junior  Class,  to  which 
he  was  entitled  to  enter,  in  order  to  get  the  full  benefits 
of  "  Old  Hahnemann."  The  following  summer  vacation 
was  spent  in  the  dissecting-room  of  the  San  Francisco 
College.  During  his  college  course  he  dissected  the  whole 
body  three  times.  In  April,  1889,  he  was  graduated  from 
the  Hahnemann  Medical  College  of  Philadelphia  with  a 
general  average  of  98.3  per  cent,  on  the  three  years'  work. 

After  his  graduation  he  entered  into  active  in-door  and 
out-door  dispensary  work,  and  took  courses  on  physical 
and  general  diagnosis  in  the  Philadelphia  Post-Graduate 
School.  In  June  he  and  his  friend,  Dr.  A.  S.  Larkey,  took 
a  competitive  examination  in  New  York,  and  secured  the 
position  of  Resident  Physician  and  Surgeon  in  the  Hahne- 
mann Hospital  of  New  York  City.  Here  Dr.  Bryant 
gained  valuable  practical  experience  under  such  well-known 
educators  as  William  Tod  Helmuth,  F.  E.  Doughty,  J. 
M.  Schley,  H.  I.  Ostrom,  J.  McE.  Wetmore,  T.  F.  Allen, 
L.  L.  Danforth,  and  J.  H.  Thompson.  During  this  time 
he  also  matriculated  in  the  Medical  Department  of  the 
University  of  the  City  of  New  York,  and  attended  lectures 
at  that  institution,  and  studied  German  in  the  Sterns  School 
of  Languages,  as  his  time  permitted. 

In  March,  1890,  Dr.  Bryant  sailed  for  Hamburg,  where 
he  enjoyed  the  rare  privilege  of  personal  acquaintance  with 


222  DR  E-   R-   BRYANT. 

and  instruction  from  Dr.  Schede.  For  two  months  he 
accompanied  this  eminent  surgeon  in  his  daily  visits 
through  the  wards  of  the  Neues  Allgemeines  Krankenhaus, 
and  witnessed  all  his  operations. 

In  May  he  matriculated  in  the  University  of  Heidelberg, 
where  he  spent  the  summer  semester.  There  he  took  Pro- 
fessor Arnold's  "Grosse"  and  "  Kleine  "  microscopical 
and  macroscopical  pathological  course,  and  attended  the 
clinics  of  Professors  Erb  and  Czerny. 

In  September,  1890,  he  matriculated  in  the  University 
of  Vienna,  where  he  worked  almost  unceasingly  from 
morning  until  night  in  the  great  hospitals,  and  accom- 
plished an  almost  incredible  amount  of  work  in  his  year 
and  a  half  sojourn  in  that  city.  He  studied  almost  every 
branch  of  medicine,  paying  especial  attention  to  pathology, 
general  diagnosis  and  treatment,  microscopy,  surgery, 
gynaecology,  eye,  ear,  and  throat,  skin,  and  venereal  dis- 
eases. Among  the  special  courses  he  took  three  on  gross 
pathology,  one  on  special  microscopy  of  tumors,  one  on 
microscopy  and  chemistry  at  the  bedside,  five  on  gynaeco- 
logical diagnosis,  two  on  gynaecological  operations,  three 
on  massage  of  tubes  and  ovaries,  three  on  the  skin,  nine 
on  interne  medicine,  six  on  surgical  diagnosis,  seven  on 
surgical  operations,  six  on  the  ear,  one  of  which  was  a 
purely  operative  course ;  six  on  the  throat  and  nose,  one 
on  the  histology  and  microscopical  pathology  of  the  eye, 
two  on  refraction,  three  on  eye  operations,  six  on  the 
ophthalmoscope,  and  four  on  external  eye  diseases.  He 
also  worked  in  Professor  E.  Fuches's  eye  clinic  for  eight 
months. 

On  January  1,  1892,  Dr.  Bryant  took  the  bacteriological 
course  at  the  Hygienic  Institute,  in  Berlin,  under  Professor 
Rubner,  who  was  the  successor  of  Professor  Koch,  and  who 
gave  an  identical  course.  He  dissected  the  whole  body 
under  Professor  Waldeyer,  and  took  a  special  course  on 
the  whole  anatomy  under  his  assistant,  Jablonowski ;  a 


DR.  E.  R.  BR  YANT. 


223 


thorough  course  on  histology  and  histological  technique 
under  Docent  C.  Bender  at  the  Physiological  Institute, 
and  a  diagnostic  and  operative  gynaecological  course  under 
Dr.  A.  Martin,  with  access  to  all  his  operations. 

From  Berlin  he  went  to  Reichenberg,  in  Bohemia,  where 
he  had  the  unusual  good  fortune  to  assist  in  operations  and 
do  many  minor  and  some  major  operations  under  those 
thorough  specialists,  C.  Wotruba,  the  surgeon;  F.  Bayer, 
the  oculist  and  aurist;  and  Johannovsky,  the  gynaecologist. 
After  six  and  a  half  months  in  Reichenberg  Dr.  Bryant 
spent  two  months  in  Innsbruck  in  Tyrol,  where  he  enjoyed 
all  the  privileges  of  the  University  and  Hospital,  through 
the  courtesy  of  his  old  Vienna  friend  and  teacher,  Professor 
W.  Czermak. 

Paris  was  next  visited,  and  during  a  two  months'  sojourn 
he  visited  almost  every  clinic,  and  saw  every  eminent 
medical  man.  Considerable  time  was  spent  with  Pean, 
Pozzi,  Galezowski,  Landolt,  Myer,  and  Apostoli,  to  whom 
he  is  very  grateful  for  special  favors. 

From  Paris  Dr.  Bryant  proceeded  to  London,  where  for 
four  months  he  enjoyed  the  privileges  of  the  London 
Hospital,  and  filled  assistant  positions  under  Drs.  Lang 
and  Morton  at  the  Royal  Ophthalmic  Hospital. 

He  commenced  practice  in  San  Francisco  on  May  20, 
1893,  and,  as  he  succeeded  Dr.  W.  A.  Dewey  in  his  prac- 
tice, he  was  a  busy  man  almost  from  the  beginning. 

He  was  elected  Lecturer  on  Genito-urinary  Diseases  and 
the  Skin  in  the  Hahnemann  Hospital  College  of  San  Fran- 
cisco soon  after  his  arrival ;  later,  Lecturer  on  Anatomy, 
and  finally.  Professor  of  Anatomy  and  Associate  Professor 
of  Surgery  in  the  same  college,  where  he  also  gives  a  course 
on  bandaging  and  surgical  operations.  He  conducts  the 
surgical  and  an  eye,  ear,  and  throat  clinic  in  the  college; 
the  eye,  ear,  and  throat  clinic  in  the  Southern  Homoeo- 
pathic Dispensary;  and  a  general  and  surgical  clinic  in 
the  Pacific  Homoeopathic  Dispensary ;  is  Orthopaedic  Sur- 


224  DR-  E^WARD  L.   DUER. 

geon  and  Lecturer  to  the  Fabiola  Hospital  of  Oakland ; 
member  of  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Hahnemann 
Hospital  College  of  San  Francisco;  Secretary  of  the  San 
Francisco  County  Homoeopathic  Society;  member  of  the 
California  State  Homoeopathic  Medical  Society,  of  the 
Homoeopathic  State  Board  of  Medical  Examiners,  and  of 
the  American  Institute  of  Homoeopathy.  He  is  also  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Calvary  Presbyterian  Church  of  San  Francisco. 
Dr.  Bryant's  superior  advantages  and  constant  studies 
have  been  rewarded  by  remarkable  success ;  although  he 
has  been  in  San  Francisco  but  two  and  a  half  years,  he  has 
a  large  and  growing  clientele  among  the  finest  families, 
and  has  won  for  himself  an  enviable  reputation  as  a  pre- 
scriber,  diagnostician,  and  operator.  He  has  been  very 
successful  in  all  sorts  of  abdominal  operations,  and  those 
upon  the  eye,  ear,  throat,  neck,  brain,  spinal  column  and 
other  organs  and  regions.  His  thorough  training  and 
education,  his  sound  judgment  and  fearless  disposition, 
and  his  knowledge  of  anatomy,  destine  some  day  to  win 
for  him  a  place  among  America's  great  surgeons. 


EDWARD  L.  DUER,  M.D.,  A.B.,  A.M.  Yale, 

PHILADELPHIA,   PA. 

Duer,  Edward  Louis,  was  born  at  Crosswicks,  New 
Jersey,  January  19,  1836,  of  Dr.  George  S.  and  Mary 
Warren  Duer.  The  former  was  descended  from  an  Eng- 
lish gentleman  who  held  an  original  grant  from  William 
Penn  of  640  acres  of  land  in  Bucks  County,  Pennsylvania, 
on  the  shore  of  the  Delaware  where  Washington  and  his 
army  crossed  in  1776.  From  the  maternal  side  the  subject 
of  this  sketch  is  descended  from  General  Joseph  Warren, 
who  fell  at  Bunker  Hill. 

He  was  prepared  for  college  by  private  tutor  at  home. 


&}UML^S   ^  .    /v^r' 


DR.  EDWARD  L.  DUER.  22r 

Entering  Yale  in  1853  in  the  engineering  course,  he  next 
year  entered  the  junior  class  of  the  classical  department, 
and  was  graduated  A.B.  in  1857 — a  class  that  contributed 
many  men  since  famous  in  professional  and  political  life. 
Immediately  upon  graduation  he  entered  the  medical  de- 
partment of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  and  received 
his  degree  in  medicine  in  i860. 

That  year  was  the  first  in  which  appointments  to  the 
hospitals  of  Philadelphia  were  decided  upon  merit,  and  he 
won  the  desirable  post  of  Resident  at  the  Philadelphia 
(Blockley)  Hospital,  in  an  examination  in  which  there 
were  forty  competitors.  It  was  this  experience  of  eighteen 
months  which  decided  him  to  pursue  obstetrics  and  the 
diseases  of  women  and  children  as  a  specialty. 

At  that  date  gynecology  was  not  recognized  as  a  branch 
of  special  scientific  endeavor.  Dr.  J.  Marion  Sims,  of 
New  York,  and  Dr.  Washington  L.  Atlee,  of  Philadelphia, 
indeed,  had  won  fame  in  the  medical  and  surgical  treat- 
ment of  morbid  ovarian  growths,  and  the  former  afterward 
wrote  an  extended  book  upon  that  and  kindred  subjects. 
But  popular  prejudice  denied  valuable  clinical  instruction 
to  students,  and  research  was  mainly  confined  to  the  indi- 
vidual experiences  of  general  practitioners.  Dr.  Duer 
determined  to  make  this  branch  of  the  healing  art  his  life- 
work,  but  was  prevented  from  entering  upon  it  at  once  by 
the  emergent  demand  of  the  War  of  the  Rebellion. 

In  1862  he  was  appointed  Acting  Assistant  Surgeon  in 
the  U.  S.  Army,  and  was  assigned  to  duty  in  the  Military 
Hospitals  of  Philadelphia,  to  which  hundreds  of  wounded 
were  brought  after  each  battle  in  Maryland  and  Virginia. 
It  was  a  rare  opportunity  for  an  ambitious  student,  and  he 
made  the  most  of  it.  One  case  of  special  interest  is 
worth  recalling  :  A  gunshot-wound  through  the  shoulder 
had  grazed  the  subclavian  artery,  which  resulted  in  a 
hemorrhage  due  to  sloughing  five  days  after  the  injury. 
The  surgeons  in  charge  considered  the  case  hopeless,  but 
vol.  11  — 15 


226  DR.  EDWARD  L.  DUER. 

Duer  decided  to  tie  the  artery,  deeply  buried  as  it  is  under 
the  bones  and  muscles  of  the  chest.  He  performed  the 
difficult  task  with  entire  success,  and  the  patient  recovered. 

During  this  hospital  service  he  was  elected  Visiting  Ob- 
stetrician of  the  Philadelphia  Hospital,  and  remained  in 
that  relation  until  1884.  With  some  difficulty  the  Guar- 
dians of  the  Poor,  who  control  that  institution,  were  per- 
suaded to  authorize  the  introduction  of  clinical  instruction 
in  gynaecology,  and  a  ward  was  specially  designated  for 
that  purpose.  Dr.  Duer's  lectures  and  clinics  were  largely 
attended  by  students  of  all  the  medical  colleges.  This 
was  the  first  systematic  instruction  in  the  specialty  given 
in  this  city. 

Dr.  Duer  has  been,  or  is  at  present,  Obstetrician  of  the 
Preston  Retreat,  Gynaecologist  to  the  Presbyterian  and 
Maternity  Hospitals,  and  Consultant  to  the  Philadelphia 
Home  for  Incurables.  He  was  for  two  years  President 
and  for  two  years  Vice-President  of  the  Philadelphia  Ob- 
stetrical Society ;  is  a  member  of  the  American  Gynaeco- 
logical Society,  American  Medical  Association,  State 
Medical  Society,  County  Medical  Society,  and  Patho- 
logical Society.  He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the 
Philadelphia  Polyclinic  College,  and  was  for  several  years 
its  gynaecologist.  He  is  also  an  honorary  member  of  the 
D.  Hayes  Agnew  Society. 

The  exigent  demands  of  an  extensive  private  practice 
have  prevented  him  from  contributing  largely  to  profes- 
sional literature,  although  many  noteworthy  cases  have 
been  reported  by  him  in  the  medical  journals.  His  most 
noted  paper  was  an  exhaustive  monograph  upon  "  Post- 
mortem Deliveries,"  a  work  of  great  research. 


DR.  J.  B.  MURPHY.  22J 

J.  B.  MURPHY,  M.D., 

CHICAGO,  ILL. 

Murphy,  John  B.,  of  Chicago,  111.,  was  born  Decem- 
ber 21,  1857,  at  Appleton,  Wis.  He  was  educated  at  the 
public  school,  and  was  graduated  from  the  high  school. 
Dr.  J.  R.  Reilly,  of  Appleton,  was  his  preceptor.  He  was 
graduated  from  Rush  Medical  College  in  1879.  He  was 
interne  in  Cook  County  Hospital  from  February  1,  1879, 
to  October  1,  1880;  he  then  practiced  medicine  in  Chicago 
until  September,  1882.  From  that  date  he  studied  at  the 
universities  and  hospitals  in  Vienna,  Munich,  Berlin,  and 
Heidelberg  until  April,  1884.  Since  that  time  he  has 
practiced  surgery  in  Chicago  ;  is  Professor  of  Clinical  Sur- 
gery in  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  of  Chicago; 
Professor  of  Surgery  in  the  Post-Graduate  Medical  School, 
Chicago ;  Attending  Surgeon  to  Cook  County  Hospital 
for  the  past  ten  years ;  Attending  Surgeon  in  the  Alexian 
Brothers'  Hospital ;  President  of  the  Medical  Staff  of  Cook 
County  Hospital ;  and  President  of  The  National  Associa- 
tion of  Railway  Surgeons. 

His  principal  professional  writings  have  been  "Gunshot 
Wounds  of  the  Abdomen;"  "Actinomycosis  Hominis," 
he  being  the  first  to  recognize  the  disease  in  this  country; 
"Early  Operation  in  Perityphlitis;"  " Echinococcus  of 
Liver;"  "Original  Experimental  and  Clinical  Research 
in  Surgery  of  Gall-bladder,  Liver,  and  Intestinal  Tract," 
illustrating  the  utility  and  application  of  his  Anastomosis 
Button  in  abdominal  surgery.  The  Anastomosis  Button 
invented  by  him  is  very  ingenious,  and  has  revolutionized 
the  surgery  of  these  organs.  It  relieves  intestinal  surgery 
of  many  of  its  dangers  and  simplifies  its  technique  very 
materially. 


228  DR.  ERIC  A.    VOKDERGOLTZ. 

ERIC  A.  A70NDERG0LTZ,  M.D., 

NEW  YORK,  N.   Y. 

Eric  Augustus  Vondergoltz,  M.D.,  was  born  June 
21,  1862,  at  Shoenau,  Prussia,  Germany.  He  obtained 
his  early  education  in  the  schools  of  his  native  place. 

In  the  year  1883  he  commenced  the  study  of  medicine 
at  Zurich,  Switzerland.  His  foremost  anatomical  and 
gynaecological  teachers  were  Herman  Von  Meyer,  H.  Von 
Fehling,  T.  T.  Bischoff,  of  Basel ;   and  August  Socin. 

Dr.  Vondergoltz  was  graduated  from  the  University  of 
Basel  the  20th  of  October  in  the  year  1887.  In  1888  he 
removed  to  New  York  City,  where  he  at  once  commenced 
the  practice  of  his  profession.  He  soon  acquired  distinc- 
tion as  a  skilful  surgeon  and  expert  diagnostician. 

He  devotes  himself  exclusively  to  gynaecology  and  ab- 
dominal surgery,  and  his  practice  in  that  line  has  been 
very  successful.  He  is  a  conscientious,  careful,  and  cau- 
tious operator. 

In  1894  he  was  elected  Professor  of  G)naecology  in  the 
Metropolitan  Post-Graduate  School  of  Medicine,  New 
York  City,  N.  Y. 

He  has  written  a  number  of  valuable  medical  articles, 
among  which  are  the  "Inaugural  Dissertation  at  Basel  in 
18873"  "  Die  praecipitirten  Geburten  von  Basel ;"  "Das 
Ergotin  in  da  Geburtshilfe;"  "  Placenta  Praevia;"  "Enu- 
resis Nocturna;"  "  Lysol,  A  New  D.sinfectant;"  "Ex- 
tirpation of  Healthy  Ovaries;"  "Forceps  in  Breech- 
position;"   "Clinical  Observations  on  Gynaecology;"  etc. 

Dr.  Vondergoltz  was  married  to  Miss  Clara  H.  Shultz, 
of  New  York,  in  189T.  They  have  two  children,  Gladys 
E.  Vondergoltz  and  Eric  A.  William  Vondergoltz,  Jr. 


^:  ^a^y7  7&aS> 


DR.  JAMES   W.    WARD.  22Q 

JAMES  W.   WARD,  M.D., 

SAN    FRANCISCO,    CAL. 

Ward,  James  William,  physician  arid  surgeon,  was 
born  in  Minneapolis,  Minn.,  March  14,  1861,  son  of  Wil- 
liam E.  and  Elvira  Canney  Ward.  His  father,  one  of  the 
early  settlers  of  Minneapolis  and  largely  identified  with  its 
growth  and  prosperity,  moved  in  1870  to  California  and 
located  near  San  Jose.  The  son  obtained  his  preliminary 
education  in  the  public  schools  of  Minneapolis  and  San 
Jose,  and  in  1878  was  graduated  at  the  high  school,  stand- 
ing at  the  head  of  his  class. 

He  began  the  study  of  medicine  first  with  a  private 
instructor,  then  in  the  office  of  Dr.  F.  E.  J.  Canney,  of 
San  Francisco;  and  in  1881  he  was  admitted  to  the  New 
York  Homoeopathic  Medical  College.  By  special  permis- 
sion he  took  the  three-years'  course  in  two  years,  being 
graduated  M.D.  in  1883  with  the  highest  honors  of  his 
class.  He  was  appointed  on  the  medical  staff  of  Ward's 
Island  Homoeopathic  Hospital,  and  was  soon  after  made 
Resident  Physician  of  the  Hahnemann  Hospital  of  New 
York  City. 

In  1885  he  resigned  and  returned  to  San  Francisco, 
where,  during  the  session  of  i885-'86,  he  held  the  Chair  of 
Physiology  in  the  Hahnemann  Medical  College.  During 
the  following  year,  and  until  1889,  he  lectured  on  gynae- 
cology. His  professional  career  has  been  marked  by  extra- 
ordinary success,  and  he  stands  among  the  foremost  surgeons 
on  the  Pacific  Coast.  He  is  a  recognized  authority  on 
gynsecology  and  abdominal  surgery,  on  which  he  has 
written  extensively  for  medical  journals,  and  his  major 
operations  have  been  numerous  and  remarkably  successful. 

In  1890,  with  Dr.  J.  E.  Lilienthal  and  Dr.  F.  N.  Ward, 
he  founded  the  Southern  Homoeopathic  Dispensary.    Since 


230  DR    E-  J-   CHAP IX  MIXARD. 

1893  be  has  been  Gynaecologist  to  the  Fabiola  Hospital 
of  Oakland,  and  for  a  number  of  years  Chairman  of  the 
Medical  Board  and  Consultant  to  the  Nursery  for  Homeless 
Children ;  he  is  also  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Homoeo- 
pathic Sanatorium  of  San  Francisco.  He  is  a  member 
of  the  American  Institute  of  Homoeopathy,  the  California 
State  and  San  Francisco  County  Medical  Societies. 

His  first  report  of  abdominal  work  was  made  before  the 
California  State  Homoeopathic  Society  in  1893.  It  was  a 
report  of  "  Coeliotomies  Performed  at  Fabiola  Hospital," 
and  consisted  of  a  year's  work  of  capital  operations  in  the 
hospital  for  i892-'93.  It  recorded  the  histories  of  forty 
capital  cases  with  but  four  deaths.  His  second  report  of 
gynaecological  work  was  made  in  1895  before  the  State 
Society.  It  was  entitled  "A  Year's  Work  at  the  Sana- 
torium without  a  Death."  The  work  comprised  twenty- 
five  capital  and  eighty  minor  cases,  performed  by  Drs. 
James  W.  and  Florence  N.  Ward.  The  uniform  success 
of  the  work,  not  only  as  far  as  the  lives  of  the  patients 
were  concerned,  but  also  the  rapid  and  thorough  care  of 
the  patients,  was  the  chief  characteristic  of  the  paper. 

In  1895,  in  company  with  Mrs.  Ward,  he  made  a  tour 
of  Europe,  visiting  the  large  clinics  and  hospitals,  and 
giving  special  attention  to  gynaecological  surgery. 


E.  J.  CHAPIN   MINARD,  A.M.,  M.D., 

BROOKLYN,    N.  Y. 

Eliza  Jane  Chapin  Minard  was  born  in  Kirkland, 
Oneida  County,  N.  Y. ,  January  16,  1840,  and  reared 
amid  propitious  surroundings,  being  the  only  daughter  in 
a  clever  family,  with  five  brothers  who  idolized  her  from 
her  birth.     Two  of  these  brothers  are  yet  living. 

Her  father,  David  Jewett   Chapin,   was  a  farmer  and 


PEIRCE 


(pJj^iLiJi^  ^^l^^^.^^/^^ 


DR.  E.J.    CHAPIN  MINARD.  2$I 

stock-raiser  of  small  means  and  a  politician.  He  was 
one  of  the  early  members  of  the  Republican  Party  which 
was  founded  at  Angelica,  New  York,  October  17,  1854. 

Her  mother  was  Alice  Pierce  Glazier,  of  Worcester, 
Mass.,  whose  ancestry  extended  along  the  Mayflower 
directly  to  Devonshire,  England — the  beauty  of  whose 
women  she  bore  regally,  and  with  true  Puritan  hatred  de- 
spised all  aggrandizement  inherited ;  so  much  so  that  her 
family  coat-of-arms  received  from  Richard  II.,  "for  valor 
in  war  and  commerce  on  sea,"  was  not  used  during  her 
lifetime.  She  was  the  companion  of  her  boys,  "who  could 
do  no  evil,"  and  one  girl  was  not  worth  changing  her 
mode  of  training.  It  was  only  when  her  daughter  became 
companionable  that  she  was  partly  reconciled  to  her  not 
being  a  boy. 

Dr.  Minard  was  a  delicate,  sunny-haired  girl,  who  walked 
and  talked  when  ten  months  old,  to  the  delight  of  a  merry 
household.  When  eight  years  of  age  she  came  near  dying 
from  an  attack  of  scarlet  fever,  which  left  her  still  more 
delicate.     This  was  the  turning  point  of  her  life. 

Owing  to  her  delicate  health  her  father  took  her  with 
him,  as  much  as  possible,  in  his  out-door  work,  so  that 
they  became  close  friends  and  companions  for  the  remain- 
der of  his  life,  and  when  separated  temporarily  from  him 
she  kept  up  her  intercourse  by  an  active  correspondence. 

Under  her  father's  guidance  she  learned  to  ride,  drive, 
fish,  geologize,  and  botanize.  He  was  never  too  busy  to 
bait  her  hooks  when  fishing,  and  tell  a  story  replete  with 
instructions.  It  was  in  one  of  these  drives  with  her 
father,  when  she  was  twelve  years  old,  that  her  profession 
was  chosen. 

A  young  doctor,  who  had  just  returned  from  Geneva 
Medical  College,  was  showing  off  a  span  of  Canadian 
ponies  given  to  him  by  his  father,  the  prominent  surgeon 
of  the  county,  when  on  meeting  him  they  stopped  to  talk, 
and  her  father  discussed  the  one  woman  student  who  had 


232  DR-  E-  J-  CHAPIN  MINARD. 

been  admitted  to  his  class.  The  young  doctor  said,  "  Oh  ! 
we  never  minded  her,  we  had  so  much  to  do  to  keep  her 
from  getting  ahead  of  us;  we  had  to  work,  I  tell  you." 

When  the  doctor  drove  on  her  father  turned  to  her,  re- 
marking, "If  I  had  one  thousand  dollars  to  spare  on  your 
education  after  you  have  had  your  academic  course  I  would 
make  you  a  physician."  She  said  in  her  heart,  "  If  papa 
will  give  me  the  academic  course,  I  will  get  the  medical 
course;"  and  she  did.  It  was  her  father's  desire  that  all 
his  children  should  have  an  academic  education. 

She  became  a  school-teacher  at  fourteen  years  of  age, 
and  began  her  medical  training  by  seeing  all  the  clinical 
work  in  the  neighborhood.  When  eighteen  years  of  age 
she  entered  the  university  course  at  Alfred  Center,  Western 
New  York,  which  opened  up  a  larger  field  of  study  for 
her,  and,  it  being  a  school  for  both  sexes,  her  brothers 
attended  also. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  late  Civil  War,  when  the  first 
call  came  for  soldiers  to  quell  the  Southern  Rebellion, 
among  thirteen  of  the  University  students  who  responded 
to  the  call  were  two  of  her  brothers.  She  left  the  Univer- 
sity, took  her  brother's  school,  and  began  to  teach  again. 
Her  salary  was  reduced  three  dollars  a  quarter  because  she 
was  a  woman,  although  heretofore  she  had  received  the 
highest  wages  because  she  was  competent.  Everybody 
seemed  compelled  to  work.  She  taught  one  term  and  then 
broke  down  with  fever. 

The  enlistment  of  the  students  disarranged  the  studies 
and  broke  up  the  classes  of  the  University,  and  when  she 
recovered  from  the  fever  she  received  the  following  mes- 
sage from  the  battlefield  of  Antietam  : 

"September  i8,  1862. 
"Dear  Sister  Jennie  : 

"We  are  both  alive  and  in  the  hospital.     Life  has  been 

very  uncertain  for  the  past  few  days,  and  Lee  is  retreating 

across  the  river.     The  country  is  safe  and  peace  is  only  a 


DR.  E.  J.    C HA  PIN  MINARD. 


=33 


question  of  time.  Women  will  be  needed  to  care  for  the 
crippled.  Take  our  joint  funds,  return  to  the  University, 
and  from  there  to  the  Medical  College,  as  you  planned 
when  a  little  girl,  so  you  '  may  learn  forever,'  as  you  used 
to  say. 

"  And  if  we  are  not  at  the  call  of  the  roll,  you  may  say 
Good-by  to  the  boys  in  our  name,  for  we  may 
Have  said  Aye  !  to  the  bullet's  call. 

"  Advise  papa  and  mamma  to  go  up  to  the  ranch  and 
wait  for  us.  Charlie." 

The  brothers  returned  from  the  army  uninjured.  (The 
youngest  was  discharged  from  the  hospital.)  They  both 
met  their  parents  as  agreed  upon. 

They  were  afterward  graduated  from  the  University,  but 
the  sister  never  saw  her  mother  again,  she  having  died  during 
the  Doctor's  medical  studies.  The  enlistment  had  taken 
teachers  and  pupils  alike.  The  four  Latin  classes  were  put 
into  one,  and  that  one  into  the  Virgil  course.  The  only 
thing  she  could  remember  of  that  six  months'  Latin  course 
was,  -''I  sing  of  arms  and  a  man."  If  ever  she  hated  any- 
thing, it  came  near  being  the  President,  to  whom  fell  the 
class,  and  Virgil. 

Just  previous  to  her  graduation  she  received  the  follow- 
ing letter  from  her  eldest  brother,  who  had  married  Miss 
Mariette  Armour,  a  lovely  and  highly  accomplished  lady 
of  Central  New  York ; 

"  Milwaukee,  Wis.,  June  22,  1863. 
"  Dear  Sister  Jennie  : 

"So  you  are  to  graduate  from  college  next  week;  I 
congratulate  you  ;  and  you  write  '  you  intend  to  go  to 
Philadelphia  to  study  medicine.'  I  have  humored  you 
from  the  time  I  named  you  '  Jane  '  till  the  present  time. 
Now  let  me  be  heard.  I  offer  you  a  place  in  my  home — 
Mariette  joins  me — as  our  guest ;  and  I  urge  you  to  come. 
We  keep  servants. 


234  DR-  E-  J-   CHAPIN  MINARD. 

"Father  and  mother  with  brother  John  passed  through 
here  on  their  way  to  the  far  West. 

"Yours  truly, 

"Emery." 

A  sad-faced  little  woman  in  a  Quaker-gray  dress,  and 
having  a  University  degree,  went  out  of  the  college  campus 
and  took  the  train  for  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  alone.  The 
moans  from  the  sorrowing  relatives  and  friends  of  those 
lost  on  the  battlefield  of  Gettysburg  had  not  yet  ceased. 
Life  was  about  as  desolate  as  could  be  made.  She  found 
work  ready  for  her  at  the  college.  The  internes  and  pro- 
fessors were  yet  absent  upon  the  field  of  Gettysburg ;  the 
dispensary  and  obstetrical  department  needed  help  ;  one 
sickly  under-graduate  in  charge  glad  enough  to  get  it ;  her 
work  began  on  the  day  of  arrival.  She  attended  lectures 
in  Philadelphia,  and  spent  the  summers  in  the  more  easily 
visited  clinics  of  the  city  of  New  York.  Here  she  be- 
came a  student  of  Wood,  Clark,  Taylor,  Flint,  Blackwell, 
Loomis,  and  a  host  of  other  famous  physicians  who  have 
moved  on  to  the  great  unknown.  Reminiscences  of  these 
great  doctors  are  many.     Two  are  here  quoted  : 

"Dr.  Southack,  assistant  surgeon  to  Dr.  James  R.  Wood, 
had  been  persuaded  to  take  a  class  of  twelve  women  stu- 
dents in  operative  surgery  for  one  hundred  dollars,  after 
the  male  class  had  finished,  at  the  Bellevue  Dead-house. 
The  great  master-stroke  in  amputation  of  the  thigh  was 
given  to  the  class,  and  when  her  turn  came  she  whirled 
the  heavy  knife  around  the  thigh  and  met  the  starting- 
point,  to  her  own  and  the  class's  astonishment,  and  to  the 
amazement  of  Southack,  who  said,  '  Good  for  you,  Chapin, 
not  one  of  the  male  class  did  that  stroke  this  term.'  " 

"  Wood  was  a  great  surgeon,  but  very  eccentric.  South- 
ack said,  '  He  was  not  easy  to  work  for,  as  he  was  never 
sure  which  way  he  would  throw  his  knives;  but  they 
usually  went  straight  out  behind.'  Fine  operating-tables 
and  antiseptics  were  little  known  at  that  time,  but  the 


DR.  E.J.   CHAPIN  MINARL  235 

clean  sharp  instrument,  the  steady  hand,  and  the  keen  eye 
were  the  same  then  as  now.  He  did  more  real  work  for 
the  New  York  Infirmary  class  than  any  other  volunteer 
consulting  surgeon." 

Dr.  Taylor  untaught  in  his  diagnosis  of  obstetrics  all 
her  Paris  teaching  at  Philadelphia,  where  they  taught  by 
the  touch — softening  and  shortening  of  the  neck.  Yet  the 
Philadelphia  school  put  the  "eye  into  the  end  of  the 
finger." 

The  unsettled  condition  of  surgery  and  pathology,  the 
learning  from  one  great  master  and  unlearning  from  an- 
other, would  have  annoyed  a  less  enthusiastic  student. 
Her  classmates  used  to  say  of  her  that  "  they  believed 
she  would  rather  listen  to  an  attack  on  a  professor's  the- 
ories than  to  attend  a  reception,"  which  she  loved  dearly. 
Her  first  purchase  in  medical  literature  was  Paget's  Pathol- 
ogy and  Virchow's  first  edition  of  his  Cellular  Pathology. 

Bellevue,  the  old  Eye  and  Ear  Infirmary,  the  Demilt, 
Northern,  and  other  dispensaries  were  open  to  her  studies. 
To  sit  in  the  amphitheatre  of  the  old  Eye  and  Ear  Infirm- 
ary, like  a  man,  without  let  or  hindrance,  as  one  of  three 
women  students,  was  sufficient  for  one  summer's  clinical 
work.  Once  the  door  opened,  and  kept  open,  made  it 
easier  for  the  next  woman  student.  The  three  women 
students  who  first  sat  in  the  amphitheatre  of  the  New  York 
Eye  and  Ear  Infirmary  were  Drs.  Abbott,  of  Maine; 
Blackmar,  of  Michigan ;  and  Chapin,  of  New  York. 

The  opportunity  to  test  chloroform  and  ether,  and  to 
use  them  in  the  needs  of  obstetrics  and  surgery,  pleased 
her  exceedingly.  She  became  an  expert  in  the  administra- 
tion of  anaesthetics.  She  advocated  their  use  in  uncompli- 
cated midwifery,  and  by  the  time  of  her  graduation  she 
became  quite  popular  because  of  her  ability  to  use  chloro- 
form carefully.  Her  thesis  was  upon  chloroform.  The 
first  vesico- vaginal  fistula  done  in  the  Woman's  Hospital 
of  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  with  the  shotted  suture,  in  a  case  of 


236  DR.    E.  J.    CHAP  IN  MINARD. 

twenty  years'  standing,  was  put  in  her  charge,  and  after 
seven  operations  it  was  successful. 

The  assistant  in  obstetrics  put  the  forceps  into  her  hands 
at  the  close  of  the  second  year.  She  often  said  she  would 
never  have  practiced  surgery  but  for  the  aid  of  anaesthetics, 
so  great  was  her  hatred  of  pain.  Surgery  owes  to  these 
aids  the  great  stride  it  has  made  since  McDowell  operated. 
Her  comprehension  of  the  planes  of  the  pelvis,  through 
her  knowledge  of  mathematics,  made  her  popular  with  her 
teachers  as  a  demonstrator.  She  was  graduated  after  a  three- 
years'  course  in  medicine,  and  received  the  degree  of  A.M. 
from  her  Alma  Mater  the  same  year,  1866. 

She  believed  that  the  physician's  life  should  be  a  silent 
one.  Medical  etiquette  stood  high  in  her  estimation  and 
was  the  guide  of  her  medical  career.  New  York  so  fas- 
cinated her  that  on  her  graduation  she  came  to  this  city 
and  entered  the  New  York  Infirmary  as  assistant  physician, 
and  for  two  and  a  half  years  practiced  as  an  externe.  The 
Children's  Clinic  was  separated  from  the  main  one  by  her, 
she  giving  an  extra  hour  every  day  to  its  care.  Pepsins 
were  being  advocated  for  general  treatment  of  cholera 
infantum.  An  associate  and  herself  made  their  own  wines 
and  cordials,  and  felt  that  they  helped  to  fix  the  valuation 
of  these  preparations  at  that  time.  She  settled  at  length 
in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  and  gradually  combined  gynaecology 
and  obstetrics  with  general  practice. 

She  married  Louis  F.  Minard,  a  Mexican  veteran,  in 
1873.  H-e  died  at  the  end  of  ten  years,  and  she  then 
began  a  special  study  of  gynaecology.  She  opened  a  few 
rooms  in  a  small  house,  and  with  care  and  attention  did 
much  good  work.  She  is  a  teacher  born  and  bred ;  she 
never  refuses  to  lend  a  helping  hand;  is  quick  to  see 
where  help  is  needed,  and  has  been  the  means  of  educat- 
ing seven  girls.  Her  best  advice  to  the  young  is  "  not  to 
make  mistakes  "  and  "  not  to  be  satisfied  with  mean  things." 

As  a  friend  she  fills  Swift's  highest  measure  : 


DR.  E.  J.   CHAP  IN  MINARD.  2^J 

"  Her  friendship  was  exactly  timed, 
She  shot  before  your  foes  were  primed." 

When  asked  what  one  thing  had  pleased  her  most  during 
her  professional  life  she  answered,  "  The  highest  compli- 
ment I  ever  received  was  the  following :  A  woman,  forty- 
nine  years  old,  mother  of  twelve  children,  who  had  always 
had  a  midwife  attend  her,  said  to  me,  as  she  unexpectedly 
placed  a  fee  in  my  hand,  '  I  have  had  all  the  tenderness 
and  privacy  of  a  woman  and  all  the  feeling  of  security  of 
a  male  physician.'  " 

Dr.  Minard  is  a  member  of  the  Medical  Society  of  the 
County  of  Kings,  the  Brooklyn  Pathological  Society,  the 
New  York  State  Medical  Association,  the  American  Medi- 
cal Association ;  and  was  appointed  Gynaecologist  to  the 
Brooklyn,  E.  D  ,  Dispensary,  which  position  she  held  seven 
years.  In  this  clinic  she  had  ample  opportunity  of  seeing 
rare  cases.  Her  forte  lies  in  correct  diagnosis  of  diseases. 
It  was  in  this  clinic  that  she  discovered  her  three  cases  of 
floating  kidneys. 

From  the  New  York  State  Medical  Association  she  was 
sent  as  a  delegate  to  the  Tenth  International  Medical 
Congress,  which  met  in  Berlin,  Germany,  August  8,  1890. 
On  her  return  she  wrote  a  very  fine  description  of  the 
Congress  "as  she  saw  it,"  which  was  read  before  the 
Kings  County  Medical  Association,  March  10,  1891,  and 
was  published  in  the  Journal  of  the  American  Medical 
Association,  April  25,  1S91.  After  mentioning  several 
very  prominent  surgeons  whom  she  had  met  there,  she 
alludes  to  her  "  friendly  reception  by  the  Secretary,  Dr. 
Lassar,  the  acceptance  of  her  credentials  as  delegate,  the 
presentation  of  the  queer  little  badge,  the  assignment  to 
the  Gynaecological  Section,  without  fuss  or  blunder;"  all 
of  which  attentions  "  were  very  agreeable." 

The  following  extracts  are  taken  from  this  publication  : 

"  Germany  is  now  the  only  civilized  government  where 
women  are  not  allowed  to  practice  medicine  as  physicians. 


238  DR-  E-  J-    CHAP  IN  M1NARD. 

Women  here  obtain  their  diplomas,  usually,  from  Zurich, 
and  are  admitted  to  all  the  rights  of  midwives  (which  are 
many),  but  are  not  allowed  to  use  the  forceps,  write  a 
death  certificate,  or  one  of  vaccination." 

"The  admission  of  women  delegates  to  this  Congress, 
in  the  face  of  the  decisions  of  former  sessions,  was  hailed 
with  enthusiasm  by  the  women  of  Berlin.  '  How  did  you 
do  it?  You  do  more  in  America  in  twenty  years  than  we 
do  here  in  a  hundred,'  was  the  greeting.  '  Meet  us  in 
Rome  in  1893,  where  co  education  has  existed  since  Agnes 
of  Coronna  captivated  with  her  mathematics  and  her 
beauty,'  were  the  parting  words." 

"There  will  never  be  more  women  in  medicine  than 
will  be  needed.  The  great  advance  made  in  gynaecology 
owes  more  to  her  entrance  into  medicine  than  will  ever  be 
told." 

"The  woman  physician  stands  to-day  side  by  side,  not 
as  a  rival,  but  as  a  helper,  to  her  brothers  in  the  profession. 
Then  open  wide  every  avenue  of  learning  to  her  !  Only 
the  best  will  satisfy  her  now." 

"It  is  such  a  pity  that  so  much  vital  force  should  be 
expended  in  hewing  out  new  roads  for  learning." 

"  I  returned  from  that  great  gathering  at  Berlin  fully 
believing  that  only  upon  the  foundation  of  a  university 
training,  with  ancient  and  modern  languages,  may  the 
Western  student  hope  to  cope  in  knowledge  with  the 
scholars  of  the  Old  World,  in  scientific  and  medical  re- 
searches in  the  future,  without  regard  to  sex." 

When  asked  if  she  would  recommend  medicine  to  a 
young  woman  as  a  lucrative  profession,  her  answer  was: 
"  My  advice  would  be  the  same  as  to  a  young  man.  It 
would  depend  upon  the  character  and  aptitude  of  the 
individual." 

The  ability  to  make  money  does  not  belong  to  either 
sex  exclusively  or  to  many.  It  is,  moreover,  the  one  pro- 
fession where  a  woman  may  cultivate  gray  hairs  with  a 


Jk&tymtf^ 


DR.  F.  H.  BANGS. 


239 


certainty  that  the  old  doctors  will  be  preferred  to  the 
young  ones ;  it  has  been  questioned  whether  woman  can 
stand  the  physical  strain  of  work  in  the  medical  profession. 
The  number  of  years  which  many  have  endured  this  strain 
is  sufficient  answer. 


F.   H.  BANGS,  M.D., 

SAN    JOSE,    CAL. 

Dr.  Frederick  H.  Bangs  was  born  October  31,  1859, 
at  Jackson,  Mich.  He  received  his  early  education  in  the 
common  schools  of  his  native  place.  When  he  was  sixteen 
years  of  age  he  was  graduated  from  Mason  high  school.  He 
attended  the  State  Agricultural  College  of  Michigan  for 
two  years.  He  was  also  one  year  in  the  Medical  Depart- 
ment of  the  University  of  Michigan,  where  he  studied  as- 
siduously, gaining  much  valuable  information. 

He  then  entered  the  Cleveland  Homoeopathic  Hospital 
College,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  where  he  graduated  in  March, 
1880. 

From  constant  study  and  close  application  to  his  chosen 
profession  his  health  was  greatly  impaired,  which  necessi- 
tated an  outdoor  life  for  two  years. 

After  restoring  his  health  he  located  in  Areata,  Hum- 
boldt County,  Cal.,  in  the  heart  of  the  famous  red-woods 
region.  Here  a  fine  opportunity  was  offered  him  to  in- 
crease his  knowledge  of  surgery.  Accidents  frequently 
occurred  requiring  surgical  treatment,  which  he  embraced 
with  delight,  for  by  his  skillfulness  as  a  surgeon  he  was 
enabled  to  be  the  means  of  giving  great  relief  to  the  poor 
unfortunate  sufferers  he  was  called  upon  to  aid. 

Still  persevering  in  his  professional  duties,  he  took  a 
post  graduate  course  at  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Sur- 
geons of  Chicago,  111.     The  surgeons  at   that  time   con- 


240 


DR.  HERMAN  B0SK0WITZ. 


nected  with  this  medical  institution  were  Christian  Fenger, 
M.D.,  and  Nicholas  Senn,  M.D. 

In  1890  Dr.  Bangs  removed  to  San  Jose,  Cal.,  where  a 
broader  field  was  open  to  him  for  his  especial  line  of  sur- 
gery— gynaecology.  Still  grasping  for  greater  surgical 
knowledge,  and  being  a  progressive  man,  he  determined 
to  take  a  special  course  under  the  celebrated  E.  H.  Pratt, 
M.D.,  of  Chicago,  111.,  in  orificial  surgery. 

In  October,  1893,  he  established  a  private  sanitorium  in 
San  Jose,  Cal.,  which  contained  the  best  operating  room 
in  the  country.  His  skill  and  success  in  abdominal  sur- 
gery brought  him  so  many  patients  that  he  was  compelled 
to  enlarge  the  sanitorium  and  make  many  additions  to  the 
building,  until  now  he  has  a  very  perfect  institution,  and 
does  a  great  deal  of  major  surgery. 

His  success  has  been  marvellous.  He  has  performed 
vaginal  hysterectomy,  by  Dr.  Pratt's  method,  eighteen 
times  without  a  death.  Ovariotomy  and  cceliotomy  many 
times. 

Dr.  Bangs  ranks  among  the  leading  gynaecologists  and 
surgeons  of  California.  He  is  a  careful  and  cautious  ope- 
rator, and  always  unwilling  to  use  the  knife  without  a  good 
cause. 

In  August,  1888,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Bella  May,  of 
Areata,  Cal. 


HERMAN   BOSKOWITZ,  M.D., 

BROOKLYN,   N.   Y. 

Dr.  Herman  Boskowitz  died  at  his  residence,  137 
Duffield  Street,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  December  25,  1882. 
He  was  a  native  of  Prague,  Bohemia,  where  he  was  born 
in  the  earlier  years  of  this  century. 

Having  received  a  preliminary  education  in  his  native 


H.  BOSKOWiTZ,  M.D. 


DR.   HERMAN  B0SK0W1TZ. 


24I 


city,  he  entered  the  University  of  Vienna  and  was  gradu- 
ated with  honor.  He  was  one  of  the  favorite  students  of 
the  distinguished  Professor  Rokitansky,  by  reason  of  his 
attentiveness  and  proficiency;  and  the  mutual  regard 
continued  until  the  death  of  the  great  pathologist. 

Dr.  Boskowitz  held  a  commission  for  some  time  as  Sur- 
geon in  the  Austrian  Army,  which,  resigning,  he  supported 
himself  by  teaching  languages.  His  attainments  in  this 
department  were  extensive;  he  was  familiar  with  Latin, 
Greek,  Hebrew,  Arabic,  Slavonic,  Turkish,  French,  Span- 
ish, and  Italian. 

In  1848  he  was  an  active  sympathizer  in  the  Republican 
and  Revolutionary  movements,  and  upon  their  betrayal 
was  compelled  to  leave  Europe.  Coming  to  the  United 
States,  he  first  took  up  his  residence  in  Jersey  City,  N.  J., 
but  soon  removed  to  the  city  of  New  York,  where  he 
remained  about  five  years,  and  then  removed  to  Brook- 
lyn, in  which  city  he  enjoyed  a  large  and  lucrative  practice 
until  the  time  of  his  death. 

He  took  an  active  interest  in  politic?,  both  general  and 
local,  and  was  of  avowed  anti-slavery  sentiments.  He  was 
a  personal  friend  and  supporter  of  Horace  Greeley. 

Although  a  Hahnemannian  in  his  practice,  he  took  part 
in  the  establishment  of  the  Eclectic  Medical  College  in 
New  York,  and  was  a  member  of  the  Brooklyn  Academy 
of  Medicine,  the  Eclectic  Medical  Society  of  the  State  of 
New  York,  and  the  National  Eclectic  Medical  Association. 

He  was  affable  and  courteous  to  all;  warm  and  constant 
in  his  attachments  ;  appreciative  and  confiding  ;  generous 
in  his  honesty,  impoverishing  himself  for  friends. —  Trans- 
actions National  Eclectic  Medical  Association,  1 882-' 83. 


vol.  11. — 16 


242  DR-    GEORGE   IV.  B0SK0W1TZ. 

GEORGE   W.  BOSKOWITZ,  A.M.,  M.D., 

NEW    YORK,   N.   Y. 

George  W.  Boskowitz,  A.M.,  M.D.,  Dean  of  the 
Eclectic  Medical  College  of  New  York,  is  a  well-known 
eclectic  physician.  He  was  born  in  New  York  City  on 
October  8,  1856. 

His  father,  Herman  Boskowitz,  born  in  Austria,  arrived 
in  this  country  in  1848,  and,  as  a  physician  of  the  homoe- 
opathic school,  practiced  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. ,  where  he 
was  much  respected  for  upward  of  twenty  years. 

Dr.  Boskowitz,  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  graduated 
from  the  Eclectic  Medical  College  in  the  city  of  New 
York  in  1877,  and  has  practiced  in  that  city  with  success 
since  that  time.  In  1890  the  Waynesburg  University  con- 
ferred upon  him  the  degree  of  A.M. 

He  is  looked  upon  by  the  profession  as  a  clever  surgeon, 
whose  operations  are  generally  attended  with  success,  while 
as  Dean  of  the  Eclectic  College  he  has  displayed  much 
executive  ability. 

Dr.  Boskowitz  has  served  two  terms  as  President  of  the 
Eclectic  Medical  Society  of  the  State  of  New  York.  He 
is  Ex- President  of  the  Eclectic  Medical  Society  of  the  City 
and  County  of  New  York ;  Consulting  Physician  to  the 
Eclectic  Free  Dispensary  and  Consulting  Surgeon  to  the 
Woodstock  Hospital ;  honorary  member  of  the  Vermont 
and  Massachusetts  Eclectic  Medical  Societies ;  member  of 
the  National  Eclectic  Medical  Association  ;  Ex-President 
of  the  Regents'  State  Board  of  Medical  Examiners  to 
represent  the  Eclectic  School  of  Medicine.  He  is  also 
Trustee  of  the  Eclectic  Medical  College  of  the  City  of 
New  York.  The  Doctor  is  recognized  as  a  writer  of  the 
school  of  medicine  to  which  he  belongs,  and  was  for  many 
years  editor  of  the  Eclectic  Review. 


DR.  WILLIAM  ¥/.   HITCHCOCK 


243 


Dr.  Boskowitz  is  a  member  of  Darey  Lodge,  F.  and 
A.  M.,  New  York  City,  and  was  its  Master  three  years; 
also,  Olympic  Lodge,  I.  O.  O.  F.j  Grace  Lodge,  K.  of  H.; 
Cremation  Society,  and  many  other  organizations. 

He  was  married  April  10,  1891,  in  New  York  City,  by 
Felix  Adler,  to  Lena  B.  Toms,  daughter  of  Captain  A.  P. 
Toms,  of  Stamford,  Conn. 


WILLIAM  W.  HITCHCOCK,  M.D., 

LOS    ANGELES,    CAL. 

Dr.  William  W.  Hitchcock,  the  subject  of  tlr's  sketch, 
was  born  in  Mt.  Carroll,  Illinois,  November  16,  1855. 
His  father,  William  E.  Hitchcock,  was  of  English  stock 
who  figured  prominently  in  the  Revolutionary  War  against 
the  British.  His  mother,  whose  maiden  name  was  Drusilla 
B.  Reed,  was  of  Scotch  parentage  and  was  reared  in  New 
England. 

Dr.  Hitchcock's  early  educational  advantages  were  con- 
fined to  the  common  high  schools  and  a  collegiate  course 
in  the  scientific  department  of  Cornell  University.  Being 
of  a  studious  disposition  he  early  evinced  a  desire  to  pur- 
sue the  study  of  some  profession.  After  delving  with 
Blackstone  for  some  time,  under  the  tutorage  of  Judge  Z. 
A.  Wellman,  of  Iowa,  he  resolved  to  change  to  medi- 
cine and  surgery.  During  the  winter  of  1876  he  took  a 
preparatory  course  in  anatomy,  physiology,  and  chemis- 
try in  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  at  Keokuk, 
Iowa,  after  which  he  matriculated  at  Rush  Medical  College, 
Chicago,  graduating  from  this  institution  in  the  spring  of 
1879.  Standing  a  competitive  examination  at  the  close  of 
the  winter  term  for  positions  in  the  out  door  department 
and  districts  of  the  city,  for  medical  and  surgical  services 
to  be  rendered  the  poor,  he  was  one  of  the  successful  can- 


244 


DR.   WILLIAM  W.  HITCHCOCK. 


didates.  This  practice,  though  not  remunerative,  was  no 
doubt  the  stepping-stone  for  a  successful  career  in  his  suc- 
ceeding years  of  private  practice. 

It  was  here  that  he  had  impressed  on  his  mind  the  whole 
truth  so  many  times  demonstrated,  although  not  always 
acknowledged,  "  that  the  poor  is  the  doctor's  best  friend." 
It  was  during  this  experience  among  the  sick  poor  that  he 
moulded  that  kindly  will  and  framed  that  gentle  touch  so 
soothing,  so  alleviating  of  sorrow  and  suffering. 

In  the  fall  of  1879  ^e  located  for  the  practice  of  his 
profession  in  the  village  of  North  Liberty,  Ind.  It  was 
during  his  sojourn  here  that  he  met  Miss  Ella  Haller,  the 
beautiful  and  accomplished  daughter  of  Mary  E.  and  Hon. 
Christian  Haller,  whom  he  married  in  the  spring  of  1880. 

Being  ambitious  to  further  pursue  the  study  of  his  pro- 
fession he  attended  a  course  of  lectures  at  Bellevue  Hos- 
pital Medical  College,  New  York  City,  where  he  was  again 
graduated  in  1881.  Soon  after  graduating  Dr.  Hitchcock 
located  in  the  manufacturing  city  of  South  Bend,  Ind., 
where  he  enjoyed  a  large  and  lucrative  practice,  making 
orthopaedic  and  general  surgery  his  special  work. 

In  1887  Dr.  Hitchcock  moved  to  Los  Angeles,  Cali- 
fornia. About  this  time  he  became  deeply  interested  in 
gynaecology,  and  being  a  conservative  operator  explored 
thoroughly  and  investigated  the  claims  for  electricity  to 
effect  a  cure  without  ablation  of  important  organs.  This 
investigation  proved  so  fascinating  and  interesting  that  he 
has  become  one  of  the  recognized  medical  electricians, 
and  is  frequently  called  upon  to  lecture  before  students 
and  practitioners. 

This  investigation  naturally  drifted  his  surgical  work  to 
that  of  gynaecology,  and  it  is  here  that  his  skill  as  a  sur- 
geon has  been  exemplified  to  that  of  an  almost  phenom- 
enal success.  He  has  performed  several  hysterectomies  for 
fibroma  and  cancer,  and  seventy-six  celiotomies,  including 
seven  operations  for  surgical  appendicitis,  with  but  a  single 


J.r^^/u^/r^~  ,&~? 


DR.  JOSEPH  HILL  HUNT.  345 

death,  not  having  seen  or  encountered  a  stitch-hole  abscess 
during  this  experience,  which  speaks  well  for  modern 
methods  of  care  and  technique  in  the  preparation  of  cases. 
All  cases  were  operated  on  at  private  surgical  sanitoriums, 
where  every  detail  regarding  asepsis  could  be  carried  out. 

Dr.  Hitchcock  has  devised  many  useful  devices  to  lighten 
the  burden  and  facilitate  the  surgeon's  work,  among 
which  may  be  mentioned  a  modification  of  Esmarch's  and 
Martin's  elastic  webbing  bandage,  which  was  first  used  on 
his  illustrious  patient,  Father  Edward  Sorin,  founder  of 
Notre  Dame  University,  in  the  Fall  of  1881.  His  Physi- 
cian's Pocket  Day-  book  and  Ledger,  which  has  exhausted  its 
sixth  edition,  is  worthy  of  mention. 

Dr.  Hitchcock  is  strictly  ethical,  and  has  done  much  to 
further  the  interest  of  sanitation  and  the  suppression  of 
quackery.  He  has  always  taken  an  active  part  in  national, 
State,  and  local  medical  associations,  and  is  a  firm  believer 
in  the  importance  of  a  National  Board  of  Health,  whose 
president  should  be  a  member  of  the  Cabinet  and  a  repre- 
sentative medical  man. 

Dr.  Hitchcock  has  one  child,  a  daughter,  May  Daphine. 


JOSEPH   HILL   HUNT,  M.D., 

BROOKLYN,   N.  Y. 

Dr.  Joseph  Hill  Hunt  is,  by  reason  of  his  manifold 
activities  and  interests  and  his  attractive  personality,  one 
of  the  best  known  and  most  popular  of  the  physicians  in 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y.  Though  he  has  made  his  home  in  that 
city  for  the  past  twenty  years  or  more,  he  is  a  New  Jersey- 
man  by  birth  and  lineage,  and  first  saw  the  light  in  a  cosy 
farm-house  nestled  in  a  peaceful  valley  near  Newton,  N.  J. 
This  event  bears  date,  in  the  records,  of  April  12,  1848. 

The  Doctor's  father,  Samuel  Hill  Hunt,  is  at  this  writing 


246  DR-  JOSEPH  HILL  HUNT. 

a  hale,  bright-minded,  positive  man  of  more  than  four- 
score years,  who  keeps  his  youthful  interest  in  books  and 
history,  his  lore  of  statesmen  and  statecraft  being  remark- 
ably wide  and  accurate.  In  addition  to  the  duties  of  bank 
president,  which  office  the  elder  Hunt  has  filled  for  many 
years,  he  served  his  State  in  the  Legislature,  and  was  known 
as  a  shrewd  and  wise  councillor  of  unimpeachable  integrity. 

Beyond  Samuel  and  Mary  Price  Hill,  his  wife,  the  line 
extends  through  John,  who  passed  most  of  his  life  on  the 
farm  now  owned  by  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  but  in  a  log- 
cabin,  some  remains  of  which  are  still  on  the  premises; 
and  Ralph,  who  received  from  his  parents,  in  lieu  of  land, 
an  education  and  a  legacy  of  ^195,  and  who  served  in  the 
Revolutionary  War,  dying  at  the  ripe  age  of  eighty-nine 
years.  The  descendants  of  John  are,  indeed,  remarkable 
for  the  great  age  attained  by  all  of  them,  for,  with  two 
exceptions,  all  were  over  sixty  years  of  age  at  the  time  of 
their  demise,  and  the  aggregate  ages  of  the  twelve  children 
was  802  years. 

Going  still  further  back  into  the  family  history,  we 
find  other  great-grandfathers  and  great-uncles  who  dis- 
tinguished themselves  in  the  development  of  the  country, 
and  who  fought  its  battles  against  the  "Redcoats"  and 
the  Indians.  One  died  a  prisoner  among  the  Tripolitans; 
another  was  captured  by  redmen  during  the  French  and 
Indian  Wars,  but  survived  to  take  arms  against  the  foes  of 
American  liberties  in  1776.  This  one  was  a  slaveholder, 
and  left  his  negroes  as  a  bequest  to  his  daughters.  And  thus 
the  line  goes  back  to  Ralph,  a  settler  of  Newtown,  Long 
Island,  and  a  shareholder  in  a  tract  of  land  bought  from 
the  Indians.  Ralph  had  some  of  the  sturdy  and  belligerent 
quality  that  gives  strength  of  character  to  his  descendants, 
for  we  read  that  he  was  denounced,  in  1663,  for  resisting 
the  authority  of  the  Dutch  in  New  Amsterdam,  and  he 
shortly  after  allied  himself  to  the  settlers  of  English  blood 
in  Connecticut,  the  Governor  of  that  colony  appointing 


DR.  JOSEPH  HILL  HUNT.  2A7 

him  lieutenant  of  its  military  force,  and  his  commission 
bearing  the  signature  of  the  Second  Charles.  He  also 
served  his  town  as  magistrate. 

Dr.  Hunt  got  his  first  "book-learning"  in  the  country 
school,  but  he  was  unconsciously  laying  the  foundation 
for  a  scientific  education  in  his  rambles  about  his  father's 
farm  and  among  the  environing  fields,  hills,  and  swamps. 
He  thus,  without  conscious  effort,  came  to  know  the  plants, 
the  trees,  the  birds,  the  fish,  and  particularly  the  minerals 
of  his  home-land,  so  that  when,  in  later  years,  he  was  called 
upon  to  write  and  lecture  on  natural  history,  he  found 
his  subject  easy  and  his  enthusiasm  fresh  and  communi- 
cable. 

After  the  district  school  had  done  its  more  or  less  per- 
fect work,  young  Joseph  was  sent  away  to  the  Institute 
in  Chester,  N.  J.,  where  he  prepared  for  a  more  advanced 
course  of  study  at  the  Washington  College,  in  Lexington, 
Va.  The  war  was  then  over,  and  the  President  of  this 
ancient  school  was  no  less  a  person  than  General  Robert  E. 
Lee,  commander  of  the  Confederate  forces.  General  Lee 
was  as  able  a  teacher  as  he  was  a  military  leader,  and  his 
pupils  to  this  day  speak  of  him  with  a  loyal  affection  and 
lament  his  death. 

The  habits  of  observation  that  Joseph  Hunt  formed  on 
the  farm  he  kept  during  his  pupilage  in  Virginia,  and 
he  made  many  forays  into  the  surrounding  country  seek- 
ing knowledge  and  experience.  On  one  occasion  he  and 
some  other  pupils  ascended  one  of  the  tall  hills  that  are 
within  reach  of  Lexington  and  were  caught  in  a  terrific 
storm.  The  lightning  was  incessant,  and  bolts  of  it  passed 
between  the  bodies  of  the  youngsters  as  they  stood  in  the 
driving  rain  and  piercing  wind.  They  unloaded  their 
pockets  of  everything  made  of  metal — knives,  keys, 
watches,  and  so  on — lest  the  electricity  should  be  drawn 
to  them ;  but  in  the  end,  while  they  lost  the  view  for 
which  they  made  the  climb,  they  were  none  the  worse. 


248  DR-  JOSEPH  HILL  HUNT. 

It  was  his  interest  in  minerals  and  geology  that  first 
turned  the  mind  of  Dr.  Hunt  to  the  associated  theme  of 
mining  and  engineering,  and  had  he  chosen  he  could 
have  cast  his  fortunes  in  that  field  with  undoubted  ad- 
vantage; indeed,  he  did  for  a  time  pursue  his  engineering 
studies  seriously;  but  after  his  return  to  the  North  other 
interests  presented  themselves ;  he  saw  that  there  was  a 
field  in  medicine  that  offered  even  wider  opportunities  for 
scientific  research  than  did  engineering,  while  the  humane 
instincts,  that  in  him  are  especially  pronounced,  turned 
him  the  more  readily  to  the  healing  art.  His  first  preceptor 
was  the  late  Dr.  Jacob  S.  Wigton,  of  Spring  Valley,  Rock- 
land Co.,  N.  Y.,  but  he  entered  the  College  of  Physicians 
and  Surgeons,  New  York  City,  and  was  graduated  there 
in  1873. 

Since  he  began  practice  he  has  resided  in  Brooklyn. 
His  present  home  is  a  spacious  brownstone  building  on 
the  corner  of  Bedford  Avenue  and  Quincy  Street,  the 
one  the  principal  driveway  in  the  city,  the  other  a  retired 
and  shaded  thoroughfare.  Here  he  has  his  ample  library, 
with  many  quaint  old  works  in  rare  bindings ;  his  collec- 
tions of  minerals,  relics,  objects  of  ethnological  interest, 
photographs — for  he  was  among  the  earlier  devotees  of 
the  camera — and  many  odd  and  suggestive  relics  and 
trophies,  such  as  a  traveled  man  and  a  man  of  reading 
will  pick  up  in  his  wanderings. 

On  the  rehabilitation  of  the  Brooklyn  Institute  Dr.  Hunt 
was  one  of  the  first  to  give  his  service  and  encouragement 
to  that  admirable  association.  He  was  the  first  president 
of  its  department  of  mineralogy,  and  he  frequently  lec- 
tured before  that  and  other  departments,  while  he  also 
arranged  large  and  important  exhibitions  of  minerals, 
contributing  liberally  from  his  own  cabinets,  his  collec- 
tion of  quartz  being  almost  unique  in  its  brilliancy,  extent, 
and  completeness.  He  also  planned  much  of  the  work 
for  the  department,  this  work  including  the  Saturday  and 


DR.  JOSEPH  HILL  HUNT. 


249 


holiday  excursions  to  mines,  quarries,  and  other  places 
where  fine  minerals  were  to  be  had  for  the  searching,  for 
he  knew  more  about  these  localities  than  most  of  the 
members.  The  large  and  perfect  zeolites  of  Paterson 
would  not  have  come  to  general  notice  had  it  not  been 
for  him,  and  his  discoveries  in  the  mineralogical  wealth 
and  variety  of  the  glacial  drift  of  Brooklyn  have  been  im- 
portant. He  has  made  a  special  study  of  pseudomorphism, 
and  had  embodied  the  results  of  that  study  in  a  pamphlet, 
which  is  perhaps  the  clearest  popular  exposition  of  the 
subject  now  extant. 

In  the  extent  of  his  other  services  and  affiliations  Dr. 
Hunt  exemplifies  the  wide  view  and  persistent  energy  of 
his  family.  He  is  a  member  of  the  New  York  Mineral- 
ogical Club  as  well  as  of  the  Brooklyn  Institute,  of  the 
Brooklyn  Microscopical  Society,  the  New  York  Scientific 
Alliance,  the  Torey  Botanical  Club,  of  a  Pedestrian  Club 
that  inaugurated  its  work  with  a  long  and  trying  tramp 
through  the  White  Mountains,  of  the  Long  Island  His- 
torical Society,  and  the  American  Association  for  the  Ad- 
vancement of  Science.  He  has  visited  Mexico  and  has 
explored  out-of-the-way  sections  of  that  land  with  his 
usual  enthusiasm,  bringing  back  many  trophies  of  his  tour 
and  giving  lectures  on  its  people,  scenery,  and  history. 
He  has  inquired  into  the  history  of  the  redmen,  and  has 
acquired  a  considerable  museum  of  their  arms  and  imple- 
ments in  stone  and  copper. 

But  it  must  not  be  supposed  from  these  facts  that  he  has 
been  unmindful  or  neglectful  of  his  profession.  Far  from 
it.  His  list  of  offices  alone  will  prove  the  confidence  and 
affection  in  which  his  fellow  surgeons  and  physicians  hold 
him ;  for  these  include  the  places  of  Vice-President,  Assistant 
Secretary,  Trustee,  and  Librarian  of  the  Medical  Society 
of  the  County  of  Kings  ;  President  of  the  Brooklyn  Patho- 
logical Society;  Instructor,  in  Histology  and  Pathology 
and  Assistant  Surgeon  at  the  Long  Island  College  Hos- 


250  DR.  JOSEPH  HILL  HUNT. 

pital;  Demonstrator  in  the  Brooklyn  Anatomical  and  Sur- 
gical Society;  Associate  Editor,  from  its  foundation,  of 
the  Brooklyn  Medical  Journal ';  Collaborator  in  La  Revista 
Medico- Chirurgica ;  member  and  Trustee  of  the  Brooklyn 
Medical  Society,  Brooklyn  Medical  Book  Club,  Medical 
Society  of  the  State  of  New  York,  The  New  York  Academy 
of  Medicine,  American  Public  Health  Association,  Amer- 
ican Medical  Association,  Alumni  Association  of  the 
Brooklyn  College  of  Pharmacy,  in  which  he  was  at  one 
time  Professor  of  Materia  Medica,  Botany,  and  Pharma- 
cognosis,  and  of  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons ; 
Surgeon  of  the  Atlantic  Avenue  Dispensary;  one  of  the 
organizers  of  the  Bushwick  and  East  Brooklyn  Dispen- 
sary; Associate  Surgeon  of  the  Brooklyn  Throat  Hospital; 
Pathologist  of  St.  Mary's  Hospital ;  Surgeon  of  the  Central 
Throat  Hospital ;  member  of  the  XV.  Medical  Club  and 
of  the  Pan-American  Medical  Congress.  He  was  for  six 
years  a  member  of  the  Brooklyn  Board  of  Pharmacy. 

He  is  known  as  the  author  of  about  a  hundred  bio- 
graphical sketches  of  the  old  masters  in  the  healing  art, 
which  were  published  in  the  Brooklyn  Medical  Journal, 
illustrated  from  rare  old  plates  in  his  collection,  and  of 
other  biographies  in  various  magazines  and  volumes  of 
transactions.  Among  other  published  papers  are  his  "  Car- 
bolic Acid  as  a  Local  Anaesthetic,"  "Jaborandi  in  Puer- 
peral Convulsions,"  "  Internal  Strangulation  of  the  Ileum," 
"Gastrotomy  in  Tubal  Pregnancy,"  "Irreducible  Um- 
bilical Hernia,"  "Bichromate  of  Potassium  as  an  Expec- 
torant," "The  Pharmacopoeia  of  1890,"  "Minerals  of 
Mexico,"  "Pseudomorphs,"  and  various  other  scientific 
papers  ;  while  his  lectures  on  botany  and  materia  medica 
before  the  Brooklyn  College  of  Pharmacy  have  covered 
a  wide  ground.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Washington  Ave- 
nue Baptist  Church,  of  the  Hamilton  Club,  and  of  the 
Masonic  Order. 

Dr,  Hunt's   first   wife   was   Elizabeth   E.,  daughter  of 


fotsOu 


o^e^H^ 


DR.  MARY  PUTNAM  JACOB  I.  2$I 

George  Duncan,  of  Jersey  City.  His  present  wife,  nte 
Emily  I.  Benners,  is  a  native  of  the  Island  of  St.  Thomas, 
in  the  Danish  West  Indies.  In  his  home  and  social  life 
Dr.  Hunt  is  fortunate  and  happy ;  his  tastes  are  such  that 
he  never  knows  ennui  and  never  lacks  for  occupations  of 
interest.  His  practice  is  extensive  and  successful.  He 
keeps  abreast  of  the  discoveries  and  improvements  in  medi- 
cine— improvements  that  come  so  fast  in  these  years  that 
it  takes  the  best  of  one's  time  simply  to  keep  posted.  In 
his  practice  he  secures  not  merely  the  confidence  of  his  pa- 
tients, but  their  lasting  friendship  ;  and  in  his  care  of  them 
he  exhibits  the  skill,  the  charity,  the  kindliness,  as  well  as 
the  scientific  enthusiasm  of  the  ideal  physician.  (Written 
by  Mr.  Charles  M.  Skinner.) 


MARY  PUTNAM  JACOBI,  M.D., 

NEW    YORK,  N.  Y. 

Dr.  Mary  Putnam  Jacobi  was  born  in  London,  Eng- 
land, August  31, 1842.  Her  father,  George  Palmer  Putnam, 
the  well-known  book  publisher  in  New  York  City  for  many 
years,  was  a  native  of  Maine,  and  returned  with  his  family 
to  the  United  States  in  the  year  1847.  ^er  mother,  Vic- 
torine  Haven,  was  born  in  Massachusetts. 

Dr.  Mary  Putnam  Jacobi  obtained  her  first  schooling, 
other  than  from  her  mother,  at  the  Twelfth  Street  Public 
School,  when  fifteen  years  of  age,  and  in  1859  commenced 
the  study  of  medicine  in  the  city  of  New  York,  under  the 
preceptorship  of  Dr.  James  L.  Brown.  She  then  attended 
lectures  at  the  Woman's  Medical  College,  Philadelphia, 
Pa.,  from  which  in  1864  she  was  graduated  Doctor  of 
Medicine,  having  previously  matriculated  in  the  New  York 
College  of  Pharmacy,  being  the  first  woman  to  receive  a 
diploma  from  that  institution. 


2C2  DR-   MA  R  Y  PUTNA  M  J  A  COB  I. 

In  1868  she  went  to  Paris,  France,  and  was  the  first 
woman  admitted  to  the  Ecole  de  Medecine,  whence  she 
was  graduated  in  1871.  She  remained  in  Paris  during  the 
siege  of  the  Franco-Prussian  War  in  order  to  finish  the 
experiments  for  her  thesis. 

After  her  return  from  abroad  she  was  in  1872  admitted 
to  the  Medical  Society  of  the  County  of  New  York,  at  the 
suggestion  of  its  President,  Dr.  Abraham  Jacobi,  being 
the  first  woman  to  receive  this  honor. 

In  1872  she  was  appointed  Professor  of  Therapeutics  in 
The  Woman's  Medical  College  of  the  New  York  Infirmary, 
and  held  that  position  until  1888.  She  has  practiced 
medicine  since  1872. 

In  1873  sne  became  the  wife  of  Dr.  Abraham  Jacobi. 
Three  children  have  been  born  of  this  marriage. 

In  1874  Dr.  Mary  Putnam  Jacobi  was  sent  as  a  delegate 
from  the  Medical  Society  of  the  County  of  New  York  to 
the  Medical  Society  of  the  State  of  New  York,  at  its  annual 
meeting  held  at  Albany,  N.  Y.  In  the  same  year  she  was 
elected  President  of  the  Association  for  the  Advancement 
of  the  Medical  Education  of  Women,  and  continues  to 
serve  in  that  capacity. 

When  the  New  York  Post-Graduate  Medical  School  and 
Hospital  was  opened  in  18S1,  she  was  invited  to  a  place 
in  its  faculty,  as  Clinical  Lecturer  on  Diseases  of  Children, 
being  the  first  time  in  this  country  that  a  lectureship  in  a 
male  school  was  ever  filled  by  a  woman.  This  chair  she 
held  from  1881  to  1884. 

She  has  been  Visiting  Physician  to  the  New  York  Infirm- 
ary for  Women  and  Children  since  1880,  and  to  St.  Mark's 
Hospital  since  1893  >  a^so  Medical  Examiner  for  the  Equit- 
able Life  Insurance  Company  of  New  York  City  since 
1891. 

She  is  a  member  of  the  New  York  Pathological  Society, 
New  York  Neurological  Society,  New  York  Society  for  the 
Relief  of  Widows  and  Orphans  of  Medical  Men,  and  of 


DR.  MARY  PUTNAM  JACOBI.  2KZ 

The  New  York  Academy  of  Medicine  ;  having  been  the 
first  woman  admitted  to  a  membership  in  these  societies. 

The  facile  admission  of  Dr.  Mary  Putnam  Jacobi  to 
these  various  memberships  and  honorable  positions  in  the 
medical  societies  and  institutions  in  the  city  of  New  York, 
at  a  time  when  the  propriety  of  female  recognition  was 
still  being  so  hotly  contested  in  other  cities,  was  partly 
due  to  the  previously  acquired  honor  of  her  Paris  diploma. 
Her  graduating  thesis  had  also  secured  for  her  a  bronze 
medal,  the  second  prize  awarded.  Not  to  be  despised, 
moreover,  was  the  support  derived  from  the  influence  of 
Dr.  Abraham  Jacobi. 

She  was  the  first  to  formulate,  definitely,  a  cyclical 
theory  of  menstruation,  and  to  associate  its  detail  with 
those  of  clinical  and  anatomical  facts ;  upon  this  she  also 
formulated  a  general  theory  for  the  treatment  of  endo- 
metritis. 

She  made  an  extensive  experimental  study  of  the  effects 
of  cold  pack  and  massage  in  the  treatment  of  anaemia, 
anticipating  in  several  respects  the  results  announced  a  few 
months  later  by  S.  Weir  Mitchell,  M.D.,  in  his  essay  on 
"Fat  and  Blood." 

The  following  are  the  titles  of  the  various  contributions 
to  medical  literature  made  by  Dr.  Mary  Putnam  Jacobi 
as  far  as  the  year  1894  : 

*'  Septicaemia  and  Pyaemia,"  New  York  Medical  Record, 
1872,  the  first  paper  read  by  a  woman  before  a  medical 
society  in  the  United  States.  "  Pathogeny  of  Infantile 
Paralysis,"  read  before  the  Medical  Society  of  the  County 
of  New  York,  December,  1873;  published  in  the  American 
Journal  of  Obstetrics,  May,  1874.  This  article  contained 
the  first  collection  of  recorded  autopsies  of  this  disease. 
"  Microcephalus, ' '  New  York  Medical  Record,  1875.  "  The 
Question  of  Rest  for  Women  during  Menstruation,"  an 
essay  which  won  the  Boylston  prize  in  Harvard  Univer- 
sity in  1876.     "An  Original  Essay  on  Buhls's  Disease/' 


254 


DR.  WILLIAM  H,  PANCOAST. 


American  Journal  of  Obstetrics,  1S7S.  "The  Value  of 
Life,"  Ibid.,  1879.  "  Quinine  and  the  Cerebral  Circula- 
tion," Ibid.,  1879.  "  Cold  Pack  and  Ansemia,"  Archives 
of  Medicine,  1880.  "Fibroid  of  the  Uterus,"  American 
Journal  of  the  Medical  Sciences,  1880.  "Case  of  Rotary 
Spasm,"  Journal  of  Mental  and  Nervous  Diseases,  1880. 
"Trephining  the  Sternum,"  American  Journal  of  Obstet 
rics,  1881.  "Specialism  in  Medicine,"  Archives  of  Medi- 
cine, 1882.  "Dermoid  Cysts,"  American  Journal  of  Ob- 
stetrics, 1883.  "Studies  in  Endometritis,"  Ibid.,  18S5. 
"Menstrual  Subinvolution,"  Ibid.,  1885.  "  New  Theory 
of  Menstruation,"  Ibid.,  1885.  "Infantile  Paralysis,"  Ar- 
chives of  Medicine,  1885.  "  Primary  Education,"  Popular 
Science  Monthly,  1886.  "  Brain  Tumors,"  Wood 's  Refer- 
ence Handbook.  "Loss  of  Names  in  Aphasia,"  Journal 
of  Mental  dnd  Nervous  Diseases,  1886.  "Quinine  in 
Pneumonia,"  New  York  Medical  Journal,  1887.  "  Pseudo- 
muscular  Hypertrophy,"  Archives  of  Medicine,  1888. 
"Hysteria  and  other  Essays,"  Ibid.,  1888.  "Place  of 
Language  in  the  Curriculum  of  Education,"  Journal  of 
Psychology,  18S8.  "  Electricity  for  Uterine  Fibroids," 
American  Journal  of  Obstetrics,  1889.  "Empyema," 
New  York  Medical  News,  1890.  "Spinal  Myelitis  in 
Children,"  Keating 's  Cyclopcedia,  1890.  "Case  of  Tumor 
of  the  Spinal  Cord,"  International  Medical  Journal,  1890. 
"  Electricity  in  Diseases  of  Children,"  Cyclopozdia  of  Elec- 
tro-Therapeutics, 1893.  "  Congenital  Ptosis,"  New  York 
Medical  Record,  1894. 


WILLIAM   H.   PANCOAST,  M.D., 

PHILADELPHIA,   PA. 

Professor  William  H.  Pancoast,  the  President  of  the 
Medico-Chirurgical  College  of  Philadelphia,  is  the  son  of 
the  late  distinguished  Dr.  Joseph  Pancoast,  and  was  born 


B 


n 


^^^^7  #■&?■  **.&.1^ 


DR.   WILLIAM  H.  PANCOAST. 


255 


October  16,  1835,  in  the  city  where  he  at  present  resides. 
Although  barely  past  the  meridian  of  life,  he  has  reached 
an  enviable  position  in  his  profession. 

He  received  his  literary  education  at  Harvard  College, 
and  was  graduated  therefrom  in  1853  as  A.B.,  later,  on  fur- 
nishing original  papers,  receiving  the  degree  of  M.A.  He 
probably  inherited  from  his  father  those  traits  of  mind 
which  led  him  to  seek  knowledge,  and  imbibed  from  him 
the  tastes  which  directed  his  attention  to  medicine  as  his 
special  field  of  study  and  occupation. 

He  was  graduated  from  the  Jefferson  Medical  College  in 
1856,  and  subsequently  supplemented  his  education  by 
three  years'  residence  at  the  great  medical  institutions  at 
London,  Paris,  and  Vienna,  and  gained  much  general 
information  by  travel  upon  the  Continent  and  in  England. 

Returning  well  equipped,  so  far  as  the  best  schools  of 
the  world  could  do  that  work,  he  quickly  obtained  a  large 
practice,  and  thus  supplied  the  deficiency  that  experience 
alone  is  capable  of  supplying.  Like  his  father  he  turned 
his  attention  to  anatomy  and  surgery,  and  devoted  him- 
self to  them  with  an  intelligence  and  a  persistency  of  pur- 
pose that  soon  brought  him  into  eminence,  which  in  turn 
urged  him  to  continual  study  of  the  current  discoveries  in 
these  branches  of  science. 

His  ability  was  generally  recognized  in  the  profession, 
and  in  1862  it  received  a  nattering  attestation  in  his 
appointment  as  Demonstrator  of  Anatomy,  and,  subse- 
quently, that  of  Adjunct  Professor  in  his  Alma  Mater. 

He  held  that  position  in  Jefferson  Medical  College  for 
twelve  years,  acquitting  himself  so  creditably  that,  when 
his  father  resigned  the  Chair  of  Anatomy  and  Clinical 
Surgery  in  1874,  he  was  chosen  by  the  Trustees  to  fill  the 
vacancy,  and  that  advanced  station  he  occupied  till  the 
spring  of  1886,  proving  himself  fully  adequate  to  the 
duties  of  the  professorship,  both  in  the  thoroughness  of 
his  knowledge   and  his  faculty  for   imparting  it   to  the 


256 


DR.  WILLIAM  H.   PAXCOAST. 


students  who  came  before  him — a  gift  which  does  not 
always  accompany  the  possession  of  information. 

The  esteem  and  affection  in  which  he  was  held  by  the 
pupils  were  expressed  upon  his  resignation  by  their  many 
kindly  words  individually  spoken,  and  by  a  general  re- 
quest that  he  should  sit  for  a  portrait,  which  they  after- 
ward presented  to  the  Trustees  of  the  College. 

Professor  Pancoast  during  his  connection  with  Jefferson 
Medical  College,  as  v/ell  as  before,  was  an  exceedingly 
busy  man. 

He  was  Visiting  Surgeon  to  the  Philadelphia  Hospital 
for  eighteen  years,  the  Managers  of  which  subsequently 
appointed  him,  on  his  resignation  in  18S5,  Emeritus  Sur- 
geon of  the  institution,  this  being  the  first  time  that  rank 
was  established  in  this  old  and  celebrated  hospital. 

He  was  also  Senior  Surgeon,  second  in  command,  of  the 
Sixth  and  Master  Streets  United  States  Military  Hospital, 
and  during  the  war  did  service  at  the  front  on  several 
occasions,  for  which  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the 
Loyal  Legion. 

Since  1859  he  has  been  Surgeon  and  Consulting  Surgeon 
of  the  Charity  Hospital,  and  one  of  the  Trustees. 

He  also  filled  (and  continues  to  hold  many  of)  the  fol- 
lowing mentioned  posts :  He  was  President  of  the  Phila- 
delphia County  Medical  Society,  A^ice-President  of  the 
Pennsylvania  State  Medical  Society,  First  Vice-President 
of  the  American  Medical  Association,  member  of  the 
International  Congress  held  in  Philadelphia  in  1876,  mem- 
ber of  the  American  Association  of  Medical  Editors,  and 
a  permanent  member  of  these  and  other  medical  and 
scientific  societies. 

In  the  recent  effort  to  maintain  the  integrity  and  suc- 
cess of  the  Ninth  International  Medical  Congress  he  took 
a  prominent  and  active  part,  and,  during  the  important 
convention  of  the  body  held  at  Washington  in  September, 
1887..  ne  was  a  niember  of  the  Executive  Committee  of 


<=>£l**s-U    ^?ec^y^^S~    //yy^>    *)- 


DR.  LEWIS  HALLOCK. 


257 


the  Congress  and  President  of  the  Section  on  Anatomy, 
and  a  delegate  from  this  Ninth  International  Congress 
to  the  National  Medical  Societies  of  Europe  to  advance 
its  interests. 

On  Professor  Pancoast's  identification  with  the  Medico- 
Chirurgical  College  he  was  elected  to  the  Chair  of  General 
Descriptive  and  Surgical  Anatomy  and  Clinical  Surgery. 

In  1887  ne  received  the  highest  honor  in  the  gift  of  the 
Trustees  in  being  elected  President  of  the  College. 

When  the  International  Medical  Congress  held  its 
session  in  Washington,  D.  C  ,  during  September,  1887,  he 
had  the  pleasure  of  conferring  one  of  the  degrees  of  the 
College,  that  of  F.M.-C.C.  (Fellow  of  the  Medico-Chirur- 
gical  College)  upon  eighteen  eminent  physicians  from 
England,  Scotland,  France,  Germany,  Russia,  Italy, 
Egypt,  and  Roumania. 

Professor  Pancoast  is  a  member  of  several  city,  state, 
and  national  societies,  and  of  learned  bodies  in  London 
and  Paris.  He  is  also  President  of  the  International  Red 
Cross  Society  of  Philadelphia,  which,  under  his  manage- 
ment and  that  of  the  Executive  Committee,  has  performed 
valuable  service. 

[Copied  by  permission  from  Encyclopedia  of  Contemporary  Biography 
of  Pennsylvania,  published  by  Atlintic  Publishing  and  Engraving  Co., 
New  York,  N.  Y.     The  Author.] 

LEWIS  HALLOCK,  M.D.,, 

NEW    YORK,  N.  Y. 

The  oldest  practising  physician  in  the  city  of  New 
York,  probably  in  America,  is  Dr.  Lewis  Hallock 

He  was  born  in  New  York  City,  June  30,  1803,  where 
he  has  resided  without  interruption  ever  since,  except  dur- 
ing a  few  years  of  his  boyhood,  when  he  went  to  school. 

His  father,  Jacob  Hallock,  was  a  lineal  descendant  of 
Peter  Hallock,  first  of  the  name  in  this  country,  and  one 

VOL.  II.  — 17 


258  DR-   LEWIS  HALLOCK. 

of  the  Pilgrim  fathers  who  came  to  America  in  1640,  and, 
with  the  colony  of  thirteen  members,  purchased  from  the 
Indians  a  large  tract  of  land  in  Southold,  L.  I.  They 
were  the  first  white  settlers  in  that  part  of  the  island. 

Jacob  Hallock,  soon  after  his  marriage  to  Miss  Sarah 
Mather,  moved  to  New  York  City,  and  engaged  in  mer- 
cantile pursuits  until  his  death  in  1813.  He  left  two  sons, 
Horace,  a  younger  son,  who  became  a  successful  merchant 
in  Detroit,  Michigan,  the  other,  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
Dr.  Lewis  Hallock,  finished  his  preparatory  studies  at 
Clinton  Academy,  East  Hampton,  Long  Island,  then  the 
second  incorporated  academy  in  the  State. 

He  commenced  the  study  of  medicine  with  a  relative, 
Dr.  Elisha  Hallock,  of  Southold,  L.  I.  In  the  following 
year  he  returned  to  New  York,  and  entered  the  office  of 
Dr.  John  W.  Francis,  Professor  of  Obstetrics  in  the  Col- 
lege of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  in  the  city,  from  which 
he  was  graduated  in  1S26. 

After  practicing  allopathy  with  average  success  for  fifteen 
years,  Dr.  Hallock  was  induced  to  try  the  efficacy  of 
homoeopathic  remedies  in  some  special  cases.  The  result 
was  so  gratifying  that,  after  a  careful  trial  and  comparison 
of  a  year,  he  became  an  avowed  convert,  and  joined  the 
homoeopathic  ranks,  being  about  the  twelfth  member  of 
the  small  association.  He  is  now  the  sole  survivor  of  the 
six  members  of  his  graduating  class,  who  had  embraced 
the  system  before  him. 

In  the  year  18-14  Dr.  Hallock  united  with  others  in 
founding  the  American  Institute  of  Homoeopathy,  and  sub- 
sequently became  a  member  of  the  County,  State,  and 
National  Societies,  and  one  year  held  the  office  of  Presi- 
dent of  the  City  and  County  Society.  He  has  twice  de- 
clined the  office  of  a  Professor  in  the  New  York  Homoeo- 
pathic Medical  College,  but  has  acted  as  a  member  of  the 
Board  of  Censors  since  the  organization  of  that  body  for 
examining  each  graduating  class  of  students. 


DR.  LEWIS  HALLOCK. 


259 


On  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  his  graduation  Dr.  Hallock 
was  much  surprised  by  the  reception  of  the  honorary  degree 
of  Doctor  of  Medicine  from  the  faculty  and  trustees  of  the 
New  York  Homoeopathic  Medical  College.  The  diploma 
was  presented  at  a  dinner  given  in  his  honor,  by  his  early 
friend  and  classmate,  Dr.  Gray,  at  the  Fifth  Avenue  Hotel. 

Dr.  Hallock  is  in  the  enjoyment  of  excellent  health, 
does  not  look  to  be  more  than  seventy  years  of  age,  and 
judging  from  appearances  is  likely  to  be  a  centenarian.1 

Dr.  Hallock  attended  the  annual  meeting  of  the 
American  Institute  of  Homoeopathy,  held  at  Newport, 
Rhode  Island,  in  June,  1895,  when  a  perfect  ovation  was 
given  him.  "  On  being  escorted  to  the  platform  (a  com- 
mittee being  appointed  for  this  duty)  the  audience  arose 
and  cheered.  Then  a  most  interesting  scene  followed ;  it 
was  moved  that  Dr.  Hallock  (who  will  be  ninety-two  years 
old  next  week,  and  is  one  of  the  two  surviving  founders  of 
the  organization,  the  date  being  1844,  and  the  only  one 
present)  give  the  Institute  an  opportunity  of  greeting  him 
personally.  An  amendment  that  the  Secretary  do  this  in 
behalf  of  the  Institute  was  conceded,  and  the  Secretary 
did  so,  amid  cheers  and  loud  applause.  There  were  cries 
of  'speech,'  and  Dr.  Hallock  arose  and  made  a  few  appro- 
priate and  pleasing  remarks." 

In  1885  Dr.  Hallock  had  his  golden  wedding,  and  his 
family  were  well  represented  upon  that  happy  occasion. 
He  has  lost  three  sons,  but  has  living  three  daughters, 
seven  grandsons  and  seven  granddaughters,  and  nine  great- 
grandchildren. 

Dr.  Hallock  is  a  most  remarkable  man  in  many  respects. 
His  health  is  comparatively  good.  His  mental  faculties 
are  perfect ;  his  hearing  and  eyesight  good ;  and  he  enjoys 
the  great  blessing  of  having  natural  teeth. 

1  The  foregoing  sketch  of  Dr.  Lewis  Hallock  is  taken  by  permission 
from  "New  York — The  Metropolis.  Its  Noted  Business  and  Professional 
Men.''     Published  by  the  New  York  Recorder,  1893. 


2    0  DR.  LE WIS  HALLO CK. 

During  the  ninety-three  years  of  his  earthly  pilgrimage 
he  has  led  a  very  exemplary  life  :  has  never  contracted 
the  habit  of  smoking,  drinking,  chewing,  or  swearing.  He 
is  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  lives  up  to 
his  faith  in  every  respect.  His  life  is  a  beautiful  example 
of  Christian  obedience  and  love. 

Two  years  ago  Dr.  Hallock  lost  his  wife.  His  youngest 
daughter,  who  is  very  devoted  to  him,  resides  with  him 
and  regards  with  jealous  care  his  every  wish. 

On  the  evening  of  March  30,  1896,  "The  New  York 
Medical  Club  "  gave  Dr.  Hallock  a  complimentary  dinner 
at  the  Savoy  Hotel,  New  York  City,  the  occasion  being  the 
anniversary  of  the  seventieth  year  since  he  was  graduated 
in  medicine  (1826).  Several  interesting  and  eulogistic 
addresses  were  made  by  distinguished  members  of  the 
club,  and  at  the  close  of  the  banquet  festivities  Dr.  Wil- 
liam Tod  Helmuth,  after  making  a  pleasing  address,  ended 
his  remarks  with  the  following  beautiful  and  appropriate 
lines  : 

A  man  who  knows  this  century, 

And  who  walked  in  his  youth 

Amid  its  earliest  days  ; 

Watching  its  glory  as  it  steadfast  grew 

To  light  the  Universe  with  brilliant  rays. 

Who,  though  the  decades  as  they  went  and  came 

And  left  their  impress  on  the  Nation's  brow, 

Passed  calmly  on — he  sits  before  us  now  ; 

Patient  and  modest  in  his  daily  life  ; 

Ardent  and  earnest  in  the  ways  he  trod  ; 

Sweet  and  forgiving  in  this  world  of  strife  : 

An  honest  man — the  noblest  work  of  God. 


Qai^$fokg^/fa.fkoJtC 


DR.  JAR  VIS  S.    WIGHT.  26l 


JAR  VIS   S.    WIGHT,  M.D.,  LL.D., 

BROOKLYN,   N.  Y. 

Jarvis  Sherman  Wight,  M.D.,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  a 
descendant  of  Thomas  Wight,  an  emigrant  from  the  Isle 
of  Wight  about  1635,  was  born  at  Centreville,  Allegany 
County,  N.  Y.,  January  4,  1834.  In  1861  he  was  graduated 
from  Tufts  College,  receiving  the  degree  of  B.A.  Attend- 
ing medical  lectures  at  the  College  of  Physicians  and 
Surgeons,  New  York,  and  at  the  Long  Island  College 
Hospital,  he  received  the  degree  of  M.D.  from  the  latter 
institution  in  1864. 

The  Trustees  of  Tufts  College  conferred  on  him,  in 
1882,  the  degree  of  A.M.,  and,  in  1894,  the  degree  of 
LL.D.  He  is  a  member  of  the  following  societies :  Medi- 
cal Society  of  the  County  of  Kings,  Brooklyn  Surgical 
Society,  Society  of  Medical  Jurisprudence  and  State  Medi- 
cine, City  of  New  York,  Medical  Society  of  the  State  of 
New  York,  American  Medical  Association,  The  American 
Academy  of  Medicine,  The  American  Surgical  Associa- 
tion, and  The  British  Medical  Association. 

He  has  held  the  following  public  positions :  Assistant 
Surgeon,  by  contract,  in  the  U.  S.  A. ;  and  in  the  Long 
Island  College  Hospital,  Adjunct  Surgeon,  Assistant  Sur- 
geon ;  Professor  of  Materia  Medica  and  Therapeutics ; 
Registrar  of  the  College  ;  Professor  of  the  Principles  and 
Practice  of  Surgery  and  Clinical  Surgery.  He  is  Visiting 
Surgeon  to  the  Long  Island  College  Hospital ;  Professor 
of  Operative  and  Clinical  Surgery,  and  Dean  of  the 
Faculty.  He  is  Consulting  Surgeon  to  St.  Mary's  Hospital 
and  the  Eastern  District  Hospital. 

Among  the  operations  he  has  performed  may  be  men- 
tioned :   "  Ligations  of  the  Common  Carotid,  Subclavian, 


262  DR-  JAR  VIS  S.    WIGHT. 

and  Femoral  Arteries;"  "  Amputations  of  the  Knee,  Thigh, 
Shoulder,  and  Scapula  with  Shoulder  and  Clavicle;" 
' '  Laparotomy  for  Gunshot-wounds  of  Abdomen  ;"  "Ne- 
phrectomy;" "Nephropexy;"  "Urethrotomy  without 
Guide  ;"  "  Stab  wound  of  Heart,  with  Recovery."  It  may 
be  noted  that  he  is  a  rapid  operator ;  has  removed  the 
female  breast  and  contents  of  axilla  and  closed  the  wound 
in  fifteen  minutes;  has  amputated  the  entire  shoulder, 
lgating  the  subclavian  in  one  hour  and  thirteen  minutes. 
He  is  convinced  that  time  saved  in  an  operation  is  con- 
servative of  life. 

Some  of  the  instruments  he  has  invented  are  :  An  artery 
forceps,  a  forceps  aneurism  needle,  a  self-threading  needle 
especially  adapted  to  closing  abdominal  wounds,  a  pressure 
forceps  for  arresting  hemorrhage — the  first  made  ;  a  beaked 
knife  for  opening  the  sheaths  of  bloodvessels,  an  ether 
inhaler,  a  bone  drill,  a  pile  clamp,  and  hysterectomy 
clamp. 

He  has  been  teaching  for  a  quarter  of  a  century,  at 
times  giving  from  eight  to  ten  lectures  a  week.  He  has 
held,  not  infrequently,  six  clinics  per  week,  and  often  has 
had  to  perform  capital  operations  on  the  Sunday  follow- 
ing. He  has  never  read  a  lecture  and  never  takes  notes 
into  the  lecture-room. 

A  few  of  his  original  papers  may  be  noted  :  "  Shorten- 
ing of  the  Lower  Limb  after  Fracture  of  the  Femur," 
"  Lecture  on  Injuries  of  the  Arm  and  Forearm,"  "  Struc- 
ture and  Function  of  Upper  End  of  the  Femur,"  "  Rela- 
tions of  Hygiene  to  Practical  Medicine,"  "Inequalities 
in  the  Lengths  of  the  Lower  Limbs  Before  and  After 
Fracture  of  the  Femur,"  "Several  Papers  Showing  the 
Difference  in  Brain  Development  of  Educated  and  Un- 
educated Men  and  Women,"  "The  Inrotators  of  the 
Thigh  and  Three  Cases  of  Injury  to  the  Hip,"  "Have 
Surgeons  Been  Mistaken  as  to  the  Nature  of  Fractures 
of  the   Base  of  the  Radius?"    "The    Displacements  of 


DR.  JAR  VIS   S.    WIGHT.  263 

the  Femoral  Fragments,  etc.,"  "Fracture  of  the  Neck 
of  the  Femur,"  "The  Deviations  of  the  Heads  of 
Confirmed  Inebriates  and  Incurable  Epileptics,  etc.," 
"  Dislocation  of  the  Spine,  etc.,"  "  A  Plea  for  the  Treat- 
ment of  Criminals,"  "Subpubic  Dislocation  of  the 
Femur,"  "Structure  of  the  Os  Calcis,  etc.,"  "Fracture 
of  the  Femur  Near  the  Knee-joint,"  "  Dislocation  of  the 
Carpus,"  "Two  Cases  of  Dislocation  of  the  Astragalus," 
"The  Death  Penalty,"  "  A  Case  of  CEsophagotomy,"  "On 
Exsection  of  the  Knee-joint,"  "  On  the  Value  of  Internal 
Treatment  in  Malignant  Disease,"  "Ten  Cases  of  Anchy- 
losis of  the  Elbow  joint,"  "An  Inquiry  into  the  Structure 
of  the  Albumen  Molecule,"  "  Treatment  of  Cancer  of  the 
Breast."  Among  the  papers  in  book  form  may  be  men- 
tioned :  A  Treatise  on  Myodynamics  ;  A  Memorial  of  Frank 
Hastings  Hamilton,  M.D.  ;  Suggestions  to  the  Medical 
Witness;  A  Memorial  of  Orlando  Williams  Wight,  A.M., 
M.D. 

Dr.  Wight  married  January  9,  1871,  Mary,  daughter  of 
Joseph  Center,  Esq.  He  has  three  sons.  The  eldest, 
Joseph  Center,  is  a  lawyer;  the  second,  Jarvis  Sherman, 
Jr.,  is  a  physician;  the  youngest,  Carol  Van  Buren,  has 
not  yet  finished  his  education. 

The  following  extracts  are  taken  from  Professor  Wight's 
writings : 

A  Plea  for  the  Trealtnent  of  Criminals. — "  The  great 
criminal  class  should  be  taken  care  of  with  a  wise  fore- 
sight, under  the  highest  and  best  administration  of  affairs, 
based  upon  the  most  complete  understanding  of  the  laws 
that  govern  society  and  the  State,  and  the  laws  that 
dominate  the  physical  and  mental  development  and  well- 
being  of  man." 

A  Memorial  of  Frank  Hastings  Hamilton. — "  He  who 
expounds  the  doctrines  and  precepts  of  surgery  to  multi- 
tudes of  young  men  during  the  best  part  of  a  long  life 
deserves  remembrance  and  a  benediction ;    he  who  prac- 


264  DR.  ERNEST  LAPLACE. 

tices  among  the  poor,  as  well  as  the  rich,  has  his  reward 
here  and  hereafter." 

Suggestions  to  the  Medical  Witness. — "Hear  the  other 
side  of  the  question  and  be  silent,  that  you  may  hear, 
for  the  truth  may  be  found  between  the  two  sides." 

A  Memorial  of  Orlando  Williams  Wight,  A.M.,  M.D. 
— "And  when  our  eyes,  and  ears,  and  hands  are  weary,  we 
rest  and  think,  and  then  we  say  these  motions  that  our 
common  senses  feel  are  only  fragments  of  the  Eternal 
motions  that  a  higher  sense  reveals." 


ERNEST  LAPLACE,  M.D.,  LL.D., 

PHILADELPHIA,   PA. 

Dr.  Ernest  Laplace  was  born  in  New  Orleans,  La., 
July  9,  1 86 1 ;  was  educated  at  Georgetown  University, 
Washington,  D.  C,  where  he  was  graduated  in  arts  in  1880, 
and  obtained  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  in  1887.  He 
studied  medicine  in  the  University  of  Louisiana,  taking  a 
four- years'  course,  during  two  years  of  which  he  was  a 
resident  student  in  the  Charity  Hospital  of  New  Orleans. 
He  was  graduated  in  medicine  on  the  19th  of  March,  1884, 
having  been  unanimously  elected  the  valedictorian  of  the 
graduating  class.  He  then  studied  medicine  in  Paris,  ob- 
taining the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine  in  the  "  Faculte 
de  Medecine  de  Paris."  During  a  year  he  was  special 
pupil  of  the  immortal  Pasteur,  and  also  studied  pathology 
in  Paris  under  Cornil.  In  Paris  he  took  special  courses  in 
surgery  under  Verneuil,  Trelat,  and  Pean. 

Proceeding  to  Vienna  in  October,  1887,  he  studied 
pathology  under  Kundrat  and  surgery  under  Billroth  and 
Albert,  during  six  months. 

In  Berlin  he  spent  a  year  in  Koch's  laboratory  under 
Robert  Koch's  personal  training,  and  studied  pathology 


Wf-.&nS-. 


DR.  ERNEST  LAPLACE. 


265 


under  Virchow,  while  he  studied  surgery  under  Bergmann, 
Hahn,  and  Kiister. 

In  London  he  studied  under  Sir  Joseph  Lister  and  Sir 
William  Savory.  Returning  to  America  in  March,  1888, 
he  was  immediately  appointed  Visiting  Surgeon  to  the 
Charity  Hospital  of  New  Orleans  and  Demonstrator  of 
Pathology  and  Bacteriology  in  the  Medical  Department  of 
the  University  of  Louisiana.  In  June  of  the  same  year  he 
was  elected  Professor  of  Physiology  in  the  High  School  of 
the  University  of  Louisiana.  These  functions  were,  how- 
ever, soon  to  be  interrupted  by  a  call  from  Philadelphia 
offering  him  the  Chair  of  Pathology  in  the  Medico-Chirur- 
gical  College.  This  was  accepted,  and  in  October,  1889, 
he  moved  to  Philadelphia,  and  became  Professor  of  Path- 
ology and  Bacteriology.  In  December,  1889,  he  was  elec- 
ted Surgeon  to  the  Philadelphia  Hospital,  and  delivered 
clinical  lectures  on  surgery  before  audiences  consisting  of 
students  from  the  various  colleges  of  Philadelphia.  In 
1892,  upon  the  resignation  of  Dr.  H.  Earnest  Goodman, 
Dr.  Laplace  was  elected  to  the  Chair  of  Surgery  and  Clini- 
cal Surgery,  which  position  he  still  holds  in  the  Medico- 
Chirurgical  College.  In  1891  he  became  Secretary  of  the 
Faculty,  and  in  1S92  was  elected  Dean  of  the  Faculty, 
which  position  he  held  four  years,  having  resigned  last 
May  (1896)  from  pressure  of  other  duties.  He  is,  further- 
more, Senior  Surgeon  to  the  Medico  Chirurgical  Hospital, 
Surgeon  to  St.  Agnes's  Hospital,  Surgeon  to  the  Samaritan 
Hospital,  and  Pathologist  to  St.  Joseph's  Hospital. 

He  was  commissioned  in  1891  by  the  Governor  of  Penn- 
sylvania to  study  in  Berlin  and  report  on  the  Koch  treat- 
ment of  tuberculosis.  He  represents  the  Governor  of 
Pennsylvania  as  a  member  of  the  State  Quarantine  Board, 
and,  besides  being  a  member  of  the  local  learned  societies, 
is  a  member  of  the  Anatomical  Society  of  Paris. 

Among  his  contributions  to  the  enrichment  of  medical 
science  are  the  discovery  of  the  acid-sublimate  solution 


266  DR-  ALFRED  C.    CARPENTER. 

and  its  application  to  antiseptic  surgery,  a  work  done  in 
Koch's  laboratory  in  Berlin  in  1887.  Also  "  Sulpho- 
carbolic  Acid  as  a  Disinfectant  and  its  Use  in  Hygiene," 
also  published  from  Koch's  laboratory. 

Numerous  articles  on  surgical  subjects  :  "A  New  Oper- 
ation for  the  Cure  of  Varicose  Veins,"  "A  New  Opera- 
tion for  the  Suture  of  a  Fractured  Patella,"  "  The  Surgical 
Treatment  of  Insanity  and  Idiocy,"  "  Early  Interference 
in  Abdominal  Traumatisms,"  and  many  others. 

He  has  perhaps  devoted  more  time  to  the  surgery  of  the 
brain  than  to  any  other  department  of  science,  having 
introduced  many  interesting  points  in  the  practice  of  that 
special  department  of  surgery. 

In  July,  1895,  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws  was  con- 
ferred upon  him  by  Georgetown  University. 


ALFRED  C.  CARPENTER,  M.D., 

NEW   YORK,  N.  Y. 

Dr.  Alfred  Clark  Carpenter  was  born  in  the  town 
of  Greenville,  Orange  County,  New  York,  September  16, 
1866.  He  is  the  youngest  son  of  Ora  G.  and  Phcebe 
Carpenter. 

Dr.  Carpenter  received  his  early  education  in  a  small 
country  school,  and,  when  he  was  ten  years  of  age,  his 
parents  moved  to  the  village  of  Port  Jervis,  where  he  con- 
tinued his  studies  in  the  public  school,  and  completed 
them  in  the  academy  of  that  place. 

He  began  the  study  of  medicine  in  the  office  of  Dr. 
William  L.  Cuddeback,  of  Port  Jervis,  and  entered  the 
medical  department  of  the  University  of  the  City  of  New 
York  in  1887.  Being  studious  and  unceasing  in  his  efforts, 
he  was  graduated  with  honors  in  the  class  of  1889.  After 
graduation  he  was  one  of  the  successful  candidates  in  a 


fiUfU  -A.  -&&J^&-  2^Sr 


DR.  ALFRED  C.   CARPENTER. 


267 


competitive  examination,  and  received  the  appointment 
as  interne  on  the  staff  of  the  Randall's  Island  Hospitals,  of 
New  York  City.  This  position  he  filled  as  house  surgeon 
for  eighteen  months.  At  the  close  of  his  service  he  was 
presented  with  a  very  handsome  testimonial  from  the 
nurses  and  employes  of  the  hospital,  showing  the  esteem 
and  respect  in  which  he  was  held.  This  testimonial  Dr. 
Carpenter  prizes  most  highly. 

After  leaving  the  hospital  he  was  asked  by  the  Commis- 
sioners of  Charities  and  Corrections  to  return  to  accept 
the  position  of  Medical  Superintendent,  with  a  very  hand- 
some salary.  This  was  most  flattering ;  but  being  very 
ambitious  and  energetic,  and  believing  a  great  future  was 
in  store  for  him,  he  declined  the  offer,  and  began  the  prac- 
tice of  his  chosen  profession. 

By  his  unceasing  efforts,  and  his  progressiveness  and 
skill,  remarkable  success  attended  him  from  the  beginning, 
and  he  now  enjoys  the  fruits  of  his  labors  in  having  a 
very  large  practice,  which  is  confined,  principally,  to  sur- 
gery. 

Dr.  Carpenter  is  a  natural-born  surgeon.  His  coolness, 
quickness,  and  skill  in  using  the  knife  are  the  first  things 
which  impress  the  observer  during  his  operations.  Great 
decision,  quickness  of  perception,  and  untiring  energy  are 
among  the  leading  traits  of  this  promising  young  man. 

He  has  made  the  diseases  of  women  and  gynaecology  a 
special  study  since  the  beginning  of  his  professional  career, 
and  during  his  first  five  years  of  practice  performed  over 
five  hundred  laparotomies,  with  a  mortality  of  less  than 
two  per  cent.  In  this  branch  of  surgery  he  has  acquired 
great  experience,  and  a  wide  reputation  as  a  skillful  and 
quick  diagnostician  and  successful  operator. 

He  is  a  careful  but  bold  surgeon,  and  very  conservative 
in  his  work.  He  has  done  Caesarean  section  with  most 
happy  results. 

Dr.   Carpenter  enjoys  the  distinction  of  having  success- 


268  DR-  ALFRED  C.   CARPENTER. 

fully  performed  abdominal  section  upon  the  youngest  case 
on  record.  (Patient  was  only  two  months  old.)  He  is 
also  the  only  operator  that  ever  introduced  two  Murphy 
buttons  at  one  sitting  on  the  same  case,  which  was  also  a 
success. 

He  has  one  of  the  finest  appointed  private  sanatoriums  in 
the  city  at  219  East  Nineteenth  Street. 

The  building  is  well  adapted  for  the  purpose.  Every 
room  is  finished  with  hard-wood  floors,  and  is  free  from  all 
material  which  would  gather  dust,  cleanliness  being  so 
important  a  factor  toward  the  recovery  of  the  patient. 
The  pleasant  surroundings  give  the  sanatorium  a  home- 
like appearance.  Here  he  gives  private  instructions  in 
gyngecology  to  those  who  wish  to  make  this  branch  a 
specialty. 

He  was  instructor  in  gynaecology  at  the  Post-Graduate 
Medical  School  and  Hospital  of  New  York  City  for  five 
years. 

He  also  held  the  appointment  as  Visiting  Surgeon  to  the 
Outdoor  Poor  Department  of  Bellevue  Hospital  for  five 
years. 

Among  the  several  papers  which  he  has  written  on  his 
specialty  are  :  "  Mechanical  and  Surgical  Methods  of  Treat- 
ing Retro-displacements  of  the  Uterus,"  "On  Endome 
tritis,"  "Abdominal  Section  on  Infants,"  "Vaginal  Hys- 
terectomy for  Puerperal  Sepsis,"  etc. 

Dr.  Carpenter  is  a  self-made  man  ;  although  young,  he 
has  won  for  himself  an  envied  name  in  the  field  of  abdomi- 
nal surgery. 


V^*.  H,v\k 


<& 


DR.  LISSA  M.  BARNETT.  269 

LISSA   M.  BARNETT,  M.D., 

BROOKLYN,  N.   Y. 

Dr.  Lissa  M.  Barnett  has  been  known  for  twenty  years 
as  one  of  the  most  successful  practitioners  in  Brooklyn.  She 
is  a  native  of  Augusta,  Maine,  where  her  grandfather, 
Ephraim  Clark,  was  one  of  the  best  known  members  of  the 
Society  of  Friends.  His  gifts  of  spiritual  insight  marked 
him  as  a  man  held  in  high  esteem  among  the  Quakers, 
and  would  in  a  more  worldly  community  have  been  re- 
garded as  akin  to  genius.  He  possessed  in  a  high  degree 
the  imaginative  and  poetic  temperament  which,  controlled 
by  a  strongly  religious  bent,  made  a  seer  of  visions  out  of 
one  whom  nature  had  endowed  with  the  essential  attributes 
of  a  great  literary  artist.  But  it  is  out  of  such  intellectual 
soil  that  some  of  the  most  conspicuous  professional  ability 
of  New  England  has  grown. 

As  a  girl,  Dr.  Barnett  experienced  no  "call"  to  take 
her  place  in  the  prominent  walks  of  life.  She  married 
very  young  and  was  left  a  widow  with  one  child,  while 
scarcely  out  of  her  teens.  Rudely  awakening  to  the  real- 
ities of  life,  she  began  to  cast  around  for  a  career  that 
would  make  her  independent. 

The  venerable  Dr.  Henry  Hill,  of  Augusta,  was  an  old 
friend  of  her  family,  and  he  encouraged  her  desire  to  begin 
the  study  of  medicine.  Under  his  guidance  she  entered 
on  the  course  of  preparation,  and  by  his  advice  went  to 
Boston  to  complete  her  studies.  She  carried  a  letter  of 
introduction  to  Dr.  Emily  Hunt,  one  of  the  pioneers  in 
the  practice  of  medicine  by  women.  Dr.  Hunt  dissuaded 
her  from  entering  a  career  of  which  she  regarded  the  toil 
and  hardship  as  more  certain  accompaniments  than  any 
substantial  rewards.  She  told  her  visitor  that,  for  a  woman 
possessing  youth,  beauty,  and  an  inherited  gift  of  artistic 


2n0  DR.  LISSA  M.  BARNETT. 

expression,  the  stage  was  the  true  career,  and  the  profes- 
sion of  medicine  came  near  being  slighted  for  the  pursuit 
of  dramatic  art.  But  the  hesitation  was  only  of  brief 
duration,  though  it  served  to  disenchant  the  eager  student 
with  Boston. 

It  was  a  journey  to  New  York  and  an  introduction  to 
Dr.  Edmund  R.  Peaslee  that  fairly  opened  to  Dr.  Barnett 
the  career  of  her  choice.  This  most  eminent  physician, 
gentle  and  sympathetic  man,  gave  her  needed  advice  and 
encouragement.  Under  his  direction  she  began  her  serious 
preparation  for  the  profession  at  the  Woman's  Free  Medi- 
cal College,  on  8th  Street,  New  York  City,  an  institution 
no  longer  existing,  but  which  had  a  career  of  some  years 
of  sustained  usefulness  while  enjoying  the  liberal  support 
of  Mrs.  Thomson,  of  Boston,  Mrs.  Merwin,  of  New  York, 
and  other  liberal-minded  enthusiasts  in  the  cause  of  wo- 
man's emancipation.  After  her  graduation,  in  1874,  Dr. 
Barnett  occupied  for  a  brief  period  the  Chair  of  Physiology 
in  The  Woman's  Free  Medical  College,  and  thereafter  took 
up  her  residence  in  Brooklyn,  where  she  began  a  career 
of  practice  which  is  one  of  the  most  brilliant  attained  by 
any  of  her  sex. 

Her  first  intention  was  to  make  a  specialty  of  nervous 
diseases,  and  with  this  end  in  view  she  studied  for  a  time 
under  Dr.  Sequard,  and  devoted  special  attention  to  the 
nervous  class  of  patients  at  the  Infirmary  of  the  Woman's 
Free  Medical  College.  In  pursuit  of  this  specialty  she 
also  qualified  before  Judge  McCue,  of  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  Second  Judicial  District,  as  a  medical  examiner  of 
the  insane. 

It  was  a  point  strenuously  insisted  on  by  Dr.  Sequard, 
that  nervous  diseases  in  women  were  in  a  majority  of  cases 
the  result  of  functional  derangements,  and  the  attention 
of  Dr.  Barnett  was  early  led  to  an  examination  of  the  con- 
ditions under  which  the  constitution  of  women  became 
undermined.     This  conducted  her  to   the  broad  field  of 


DR.  LISSA  M.  BARNETT.  2Jl 

gynaecological  practice,  which  she  has  since  occupied  with 
eminent  ability  and  success.  If  that  success  has  been  due 
to  one  thing  more  than  another,  it  is  to  the  consistent 
application  of  the  principle  that  the  patient  needs  to  be 
studied  quite  as  much  as  the  disease. 

Dr.  Barnett  is  a  great  stickler  for  the  principle  that  no 
detail  of  a  patient's  history,  condition,  or  environment  is 
so  small  as  not  to  deserve  the  study  of  the  physician,  so 
long  as  it  has  any  bearing  on  the  mode  of  treatment.  She 
has  sedulously  avoided  the  habit  of  dealing  with  disease 
as  if  it  were  an  abstract  entity,  and  has  kept  the  fact 
steadily  in  view  that  the  differentiation  of  disease  is  as 
endless  as  the  constitution  and  character  of  patients.  To 
adapt  her  treatment  to  each  case  with  all  the  care  that  a 
special  study  of  the  individual  could  command  has  been 
her  constant  aim,  and  she  attributes  the  measure  of  success 
which  she  has  attained  largely  to  a  painstaking  and  labor- 
ious adhesion  to  this  method. 

Dr.  Barnett  has  always  assumed  that  medicine  is  a  pro- 
gressive science,  and  her  mind  has  been  open  to  impres- 
sions from  all  quarters  whence  a  sound  impulse  was  to  be 
expected.  She  was  one  of  the  first  to  discern  the  far- 
reaching  possibilities  of  electro  therapeutics,  and,  in  the 
use  of  electricity  in  her  practice,  she  has  endeavored  to 
keep  pace  with  the  rapid  advance  in  the  practical  and 
scientific  application  of  that  still  undefined  force.  She  has 
had  no  sympathy  with  that  attitude  of  the  medical  mind 
which  repels  novelties  merely  because  they  are  new,  and 
she  has  steadily  contended  that,  even  in  the  most  absurd 
perversions  of  the  art  of  healing,  some  grains  of  truth 
might  be  found  worth  the  attention  of  the  progressive 
physician.  The  one  object  of  all  practice  being  the  care 
of  the  patient,  she  has  always  been  ready  to  regard  as 
worthy  of  investigation  anything  that  had  a  demonstrated 
capacity  to  attain  that  end. 

She  is  thus  a  standing  disproof  of  the  assertion  that  "in 


272 


DR.  ST.    CLAIR  SMITH. 


the  hands  of  women  practitioners  the  science  of  medicine 
stands  still."  Her  whole  professional  career  shows  that 
there  can  be  no  more  ardent  apostle  of  medical  progress 
than  a  woman,  and  none  more  hospitable  to  new  ideas 
from  whatever  quarter  they  may  come. 


ST.  CLAIR  SMITH,  M.D., 

NEW   YORK,  N.   Y. 

Dr.  St.  Clair  Smith  has  occupied,  almost  since  his 
graduation  in  1869,  a  prominent  and  active  place  in  the 
medical  history  of  New  York  homoeopathy. 

Born  March  15,  1846,  in  Cayuga  Co.,  New  York,  he 
received  in  boyhood  the  ordinary  common  school  edu- 
cation. 

Subsequently  he  attended  the  academy  at  Aurora  and 
Auburn  in  this  State. 

He  commenced  the  study  of  medicine  in  1867  at  the 
New  York  Homoeopathic  College  and  Hospital,  graduating 
in  1869. 

Until  November,  1870,  he  was  Resident  Physician  at  the 
Five  Points  House  of  Industry. 

Moving  to  Brooklyn,  he  was  appointed  the  First  Resi- 
dent Physician  at  the  Maternity  Hospital  in  that  city. 
Coming  back  to  New  York  in  1872,  he  became  associated 
with  Dr.  T.  F.  Allen ;  this  connection  lasting  for  eight 
years. 

From  1872  until  1877  he  lectured  on  materia  medica  at 
the  Homoeopathic  Medical  College  in  this  city. 

The  winters  of  1879,  1880,  and  1881  he  was  Professor 
of  Physiology  in  the  same  institution.  For  one  year  he 
occupied  the  Chair  of  Diseases  of  Children. 

For  the  next  succeeding  four  years  he  held  the  Chair  of 
Materia  Medica,  resigning  to  take  the  Professorship  of 
Theory  and  Practice  of  Medicine,  which  he  still  holds. 


/^i 


7~> 


>  ^r/^rw^ 


DR.  H.   C.    CROWELL. 


273 


In  the  winters  of  1878,  1879,  and  1880  he  was  Professor 
of  Physiology  in  the  New  York  Medical  College  for 
Women. 

For  twelve  years  Dr.  Smith  was  Visiting  Physician  to  the 
Five  Points  House  of  Industry,  and  is  at  present  the  Superin- 
tendent and  Consulting  Physician  to  the  same  institution. 

He  is  a  member  of  the  American  Institute  of  Homoe- 
opathy, the  Homoeopathic  Medical  Society  of  the  State  of 
New  York,  and  the  Homoeopathic  Medical  Society  of  the 
County  of  New  York. 

He  was  married  in  1880  to  Kate,  the  daughter  of  Ferdi- 
nand Zogvaum,  of  New  York.1 


H.  C.   CROWELL,  M.D., 

KANSAS    CITY,    MO. 

Homer  Cutler  Crowell,  M.D.,  was  born  in  West 
Westminster,  Vermont,  January  14,  1852.  The  family  of 
Crowells  from  whom  he  descended  originated  with  the 
Cromwells;  later  they  discarded  the  letter  M  in  their 
name.  They  came  from  Cape  Cod,  where  they  followed 
the  sea  as  an  avocation,  until  his  great-grandfather,  who 
had  a  family  of  nine  sons,  resolved  to  place  them  upon  a 
farm  remote  from  the  sea,  consequently  so  hazardous  a 
pursuit  as  that  of  seafaring  was  abandoned  and  they  turned 
to  rural  employment.  He  moved  to  his  country  home  many 
years  ago,  since  which  time  in  place  of  sailors  have  sprung 
physicians,  lawyers,  ministers,  and  other  followings.  On 
his  mother's  side  the  Cutlers  are  more  of  an  intellectual 
turn  of  mind,  as  the  family  have  almost  entirely  been 
scholars  of  some  note. 

Dr.  Crowell's  early  education  was  obtained  in  private 
schools  and  academies.     He  was  graduated  in  medicine  at 

1  From  New  York — The  Metropolis,  1895. 
VOL.  II. — 18 


274  DR-   E-  A-    TUCKER. 

the  Medical  Department  of  the  University  of  Vermont 
July  i,  1875.  The  winters  of  1878  and  1879  were  spent 
in  New  York  City,  where  he  devoted  himself  to  the  study 
of  general  medicine  and  surgery. 

He  engaged  in  the  practice  of  general  medicine  in  East 
Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  in  the  year  1875,  where  his  skill  as  a 
practitioner  soon  enabled  him  to  rank  among  the  leading 
physicians  of  the  county.  He  spent  one  year  in  New  York 
City  preparatory  to  making  a  specialty  of  gynaecology. 

In  1888  he  removed  to  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  and  devoted 
himself  to  doing  abdominal  surgery,  and  he  is  at  the  pres- 
ent time  one  of  the  most  prominent  gynaecologists  in  the 
State,  gaining  for  himself  an  enviable  reputation  as  an 
operator  and  conservative,  safe  counsellor. 

Dr.  Crowell  has  taken  an  active  part  in  various  medical 
societies,  and  he  has  contributed  some  able  and  valuable 
articles  to  medical  journals.  He  now  holds  the  Chair  of 
Clinical  Gynaecologist  in  the  University  Medical  College 
of  Kansas  City. 

As  an  operator  he  is  careful,  cleanly,  and  rapid.  He 
has  done  a  goodly  amount  of  abdominal  and  gynaecologi- 
cal surgery  with  most  happy  results.  He  is  in  the  prime 
of  life,  splendid  physique,  and  commanding  in  appearance. 


E.  A.  TUCKER,  M.D., 

NEW    YORK,   N.   Y. 

Dr.  Ervin  Alden  Tucker,  Assistant  Visiting  Physi- 
cian to  The  Sloane  Maternity  Hospital  of  the  College  of 
Physicians  and  Surgeons;  Attending  Obstetrician  to  the 
Maternity  Hospital  (Department  of  Public  Charities)  ; 
Tutor  in  Obstetrics  and  Gynaecology  in  the  College  of 
Physicians  and  Surgeons  (Columbia  University). 

Dr.  Tucker  was  born  February  2,   1862,  at  Attleboro, 


C^L .      A^^^^fe. 


DR.  E.  A.   TUCKER.  2~e 

Mass.  His  parents  were  Almon  H.  and  Lydia  Harriet 
(Sweet)  Tucker.  His  paternal  ancestry  can  be  traced 
back  to  Robert  Tucker,  of  Weymouth,  Mass.  (1635),  who 
was  a  direct  descendant  of  Willielmus  Tucker,  of  Thorn- 
ley,  Devon  County,  England  (1079). 

His  early  education  was  obtained  in  the  common  schools 
of  Attleboro,  Mass.,  and  he  was  prepared  for  college  in 
Mowry  and  Goff's  Classical  School,  Providence,  R.  I.  In 
1 88 1  he  entered  Amherst  College,  choosing  Amherst  at 
the  suggestion  of  his  old  friend  and  teacher,  Mr.  J.  O. 
Tiffany.  He  followed  the  "scientific  course"  at  Amherst 
in  preference  to  the  "classical,"  in  order  to  devot  more 
time  to  the  sciences  and  modern  languages,  which  h  knew 
would  be  useful  later,  as  he  had  long  before  enterir  <;  col- 
lege resolved  to  become  a  physician.  His  devotior  to  the 
languages  was  such  that  a  prize  for  scholarship  in  Irench, 
Italian,  and  Spanish  was  given  him  at  the  end  of  the  junior 
year.  He  was  graduated  from  Amherst  in  1885  with  the 
degree  of  B.S.,  and  in  1888  received  the  degree  of  A.M. 
from  the  same  college. 

The  year  1 885-' 86  was  spent  in  Stamford,  Conn.,  teach- 
ing modern  languages  in  Betts's  Academy,  and  reading 
medicine  under  the  direction  of  Dr.  A.  M.  Hurlburt. 
Then  he  spent  three  years  in  medical  study  in  the  College 
of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  in  New  York  City — two  years 
under  the  preceptorship  of  the  late  Professor  H.  B.  Sands, 
and  one  year  under  that  of  Professor  George  S.  Hunting- 
ton— graduating  in  1889  as  one  of  the  "  ten  honor  men  " 
in  a  class  of  166,  and  taking  the  second  Harsen  prize 
($300)  for  "proficiency  in  all  the  branches  of  medical 
teaching." 

For  six  months  after  graduation  he  was  Assistant  Resi- 
dent Physician  in  the  Nursery  and  Child's  Hospital,  New 
York  City,  where  he  derived  valuable  experience  in  chil- 
dren's diseases  and  obstetrics  under  the  able  tuition  of  the 
resident  physician,  Dr.  J.  M.  Mabbott. 


2/6 


DR.  E.  A.    TUCKER. 


In  December,  1889,  he  went  to  Germany.  After  "  pol- 
ishing up  "  his  German  in  Gottingen  he  devoted  all  his 
time  to  obstetrics,  spending  one  semester  in  Berlin  under 
the  instruction  of  Olshausen,  Winter,  and  Diihrssen,  and 
another  in  the  Frauenklinick  in  Munich  under  the  instruc- 
tion of  Winckel.  His  holidays  were  spent  in  visiting  the 
maternity  hospitals  in  Leipzig,  Dresden,  Prague,  Vienna, 
and  Paris.  In  the  spring  of  1890  he  was  notified  that  he 
had  been  appointed  Instructor  in  Practical  Obstetrics  in 
the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  and  Resident 
Physician  in  The  Sloan  e  Maternity  Hospital,  New  York  City. 
In  December,  1890,  he  returned  from  abroad  to  enter 
upon  the  duties  imposed  by  these  positions.  From  1890 
to  1895  he  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  the  service  in- 
crease from  about  400  to  over  900  confinements  a  year, 
thus  making  The  Sloane  Maternity  the  largest  obstetric 
hospital  in  this  country,  and  giving  to  the  students  of  the 
College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  a  most  valuable  clin- 
ical experience  in  obstetrics. 

Upon  resigning  in  July,  1895,  the  position  of  Resident 
Physician,  in  order  to  enter  upon  the  private  practice  of 
obstetrics  as  a  specialty,  he  received  the  appointment  of 
Assistant  Visiting  Physician  to  The  Sloane  Maternity  Hos- 
pital, and  was  also  appointed  to  act  as  Tutor  in  Obstetrics 
and  Gynsegology  in  the  new  four-years'  course  which  was 
then  being  established  in  the  College  of  Physicians  and 
Surgeons. 

In  November,  1895,  the  Commissioners  of  Public  Chari- 
ties appointed  him  one  of  the  Attending  Obstetricians  of 
the  Maternity  Hospital,  the  obstetric  division  of  the  City 
Hospital  on  Blackwell's  Island. 

Dr.  Tucker  is  a  member  of  The  New  York  Academy  of 
Medicine ;  The  New  York  Obstetrical  Society ;  the  New 
York  County  Medical  Association  ;  the  Medical  Society 
of  the  County  of  New  York ;  the  West-end  Medical  So- 
ciety, etc. 


-^L^^ 


^^^ 


DR.  CARL  KURTZ.  277 

In  1893  he  married  Miss  George  Anna  Crispell,  of  Rond- 
out,  N.  Y.,  a  granddaughter  of  Dr.  Peter  Crispell,  who 
was  in  his  day  the  most  prominent  obstetrician  in  Ulster 
County,  N.  Y. 

Although  Dr.  Tucker  may  be  classed  among  the  younger 
practitioners  his  reputation  as  a  skillful  diagnostician  and 
expert  operator  is  already  established,  as  shown  by  the 
prominent  people  who  have  availed  themselves  of  his  ser- 
vices, and  by  the  constantly  increasing  demand  for  his 
advice  in  consultation  in  obstetric  cases. 

Dr.  Tucker  has  a  pleasing  and  attractive  manner  which 
is  calculated  to  endear  him  to  his  patients  and  friends. 
He  is  devoted  to  his  profession,  possessed  of  a  kind  and 
generous  heart,  and  his  field  for  active  work  is  broad, 
claiming  his  skill  and  sound  judgment  in  all  that  relates  to 
the  art  of  obstetrics. 


CARL  KURTZ,  M.D., 

LOS  ANGELES,   CALIFORNIA. 

Dr.  Carl  Kurtz  is  the  son  of  Joseph  Kurtz,  M.D.,  a 
prominent  physician  of  Los  Angeles,  Cal.  He  was  born 
in  Los  Angeles,  Cal.,  in  the  year  1868,  and  received  his 
early  education  in  the  public  schools  of  his  native  city, 
graduating  from  the  High  School  in  1885. 

After  spending  two  years  in  the  College  of  Medicine  of 
the  University  of  Southern  California,  he  left  for  New 
York  City  to  attend  Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College, 
from  which  institution  he  was  graduated  in  the  year  1889. 
The  same  year  he  went  to  Europe,  where  he  remained  from 
June  to  October,  attending  the  Clinics  at  Heidelberg, 
Halle,  and  Berlin,  Germany. 

In  October,  1889,  he  matriculated  in  the  University  of 
Munich,  and  in  the  following  winter  was  admitted  as  in- 


278 


DR.  CARL  KURTZ. 


terne  under  Professor  Frans  Winkel  in  the  Konighehen 
Universitats,  Frauenklinick,  Munich,  where  he  remained 
as  interne  until  September  1,  1890. 

He  also  matriculated  in  the  University  of  Vienna  in 
1890,  taking  special  courses  under  the  celebrated  Professor 
Billroth,  and  Albert  Braun  and  others  of  like  distinction. 

On  May  14,  1891,  he  entered  the  "  Stadischas  Krank- 
enhaus  Moabit,"  in  Berlin,  as  Voulantararzt  under  Pro- 
fessor Sonnenburg,  there  remaining  as  surgical  assistant 
until  1892,  doing  credit  to  himself  and  his  profession. 
He  there  displayed  his  fine  ability  as  a  promising  young 
surgeon. 

After  gaining  much  valuable  information  from  those 
renowned  surgeons,  who  were  his  medical  and  surgical 
instructors,  he  returned  to  Los  Angeles,  California,  during 
the  early  part  of  1893,  and  became  associated  with  his 
father,  Dr.  Joseph  Kurtz,  in  the  practice  of  medicine. 

From  early  childhood  he  evinced  a  talent  for  surgery, 
and  entering  upon  the  duties  of  his  profession  became  a 
gynaecologist,  and  during  the  past  year  conducted  the 
Gynaecological  Clinic  at  the  College  of  Medicine.  He 
was  selected  an  Associate  Professor  of  Gynaecology  in  1895. 
The  same  year  he  was  appointed  a  member  of  the  City 
Board  of  Health. 

He  has  held  several  medical  positions  of  trust.  He 
was  appointed  Trustee  and  Consulting  Physician  to  the 
Maternity  Hospital  at  Los  Angeles,  Cal. 

Dr.  Kurtz  is  a  rising  surgeon  with  a  bright  future  before 
him.  As  an  abdominal  operator  he  is  remarkably  success- 
ful, and  has  displayed  great  skill  in  major  surgery.  He 
attends  his  cases  with  great  care  and  caution,  and  is  con- 
scientious in  the  extreme. 


(sCcZc-^    ski ,  <s  A^cr**^^^, 


DR.  ALLEN  M.    THOMAS.  279 

ALLEN  M.  THOMAS,  M.D., 

NEW    YORK,    N.    Y. 

Dr.  Allen  Mason  Thomas  was  born  at  Wickford, 
Rhode  Island,  September  26,  1856.  He  is  the  son  of 
Allen  M.  Thomas  and  Charlotte  Proctor  Smith,  both  of 
Rhode  Island.  His  eldest  brother,  Elisha  Smith  Thomas, 
lately  deceased,  was  Bishop  of  Kansas. 

Dr.  Thomas  is  of  good,  old  New  England  stock,  trac- 
ing his  direct  lineage,  through  historic  names  in  Rhode 
Island,  back  to  the  earliest  settlements  in  that  State. 
Through  the  paternal  branch  he  is  associated  with  the 
Revolution,  through  his  great-great-grandfather,  Captain 
Samuel  Thomas,  who  held  a  commission  under  George 
III.,  but  at  the  outbreak  of  hostilities  joined  at  once  the 
colonial  troops. 

His  lineal  descent  on  this  side  also  embraced  two  of  the 
Colonial  Governors  of  Rhode  Island,  John  Coggeshall 
and  Walter  Clarke.  On  the  maternal  side  he  traces  his 
ancestry,  in  a  direct  line,  to  William  Carpenter,  William 
Arnold,  and  Richard  Waterman,  three  of  the  twelve  early 
settlers  of  Providence,  Rhode  Island,  in  1636,  whose  names 
appear  on  the  famous  "Initial  Deed"  of  Roger  Williams. 
The  Thomas  family  trace  their  origin  to  Sir  Rhys  ap 
Thomas,  K.  G.,  of  Wales,  and  their  shield  bears  his  arms. 

Dr.  Thomas  obtained  his  early  education  in  a  private 
school  at  Wickford.  When  fifteen  years  of  age  he  was 
sent  to  the  Episcopal  Military  Academy  at  Chester,  Conn., 
where  he  remained  from  1871  to  1873.  He  was  graduated 
at  Yale  Scientific  School,  taking  the  "medical  course," 
in  the  year  1877,  and  in  the  year  1880  he  was  graduated 
from  the  New  York  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons. 
In  1882  he  was  appointed  House  Surgeon  at  the  Chambers 
Street  Hospital. 


2g0  DR.  ALLEN  M.    THOMAS. 

Dr.  Thomas  accepted  the  position  of  Assistant  Physician 
at  the  New  York  State  Emigrant  Hospital,  on  Ward's 
Island,  July,  1882.  He  served  as  Physician -in-chief  to 
the  New  York  State  Emigrant  Hospital  from  1883  to  1885, 
and  from  1886  to  1888  he  was  Physician-in-chief  and 
Superintendent  of  the  same  institution.  He  then  traveled 
and  studied  in  Europe  for  a  short  period.  Upon  his  re- 
turn to  America  he  began  private  practice  in  New  York 
City  in  the  spring  of  1889. 

At  present  he  is  Attending  Physician  to  the  Nursery  and 
Child's  Hospital,  and  was  President  of  the  New  York  Clin- 
ical Society  for  1895  and  1896. 

Dr.  Thomas  is  also  a  member  of  the  following  societies  : 
The  New  York  Obstetrical  Society,  The  New  York  Acad- 
emy of  Medicine,  Medical  Society  of  the  County  of  New 
York,  Hospital  Graduates'  Club,  Alumni  Association  of  the 
New  York  Hospital,  and  Fortnightly  Medical  Society. 

While  Dr.  Thomas  was  in  Paris,  France,  he  was  in  at- 
tendance at  the  Pasteur  Institute  during  the  investigation 
immediately  following  the  discoveries  of  M.  Pasteur  in  re- 
lation to  hydrophobia. 

Dr.  Thomas  does  not  confine  himself  to  obstetrical  sur- 
gery, but  devotes  himself  also  to  the  general  practice  of 
medicine.  He  is  devoted  to  his  profession,  progressive  in 
his  ideas,  a  careful,  thoughtful  practitioner,  a  continuous 
student,  and  in  touch  with  the  rapid  achievements  of  med- 
ical science. 

His  experience  as  a  diagnostician,  coupled  with  his 
thoroughly  conscientious  work  in  whatever  he  undertakes, 
has  endeared  him  to  his  patients  and  the  community  in 
which  he  lives ;  and  being  in  the  very  prime  of  life,  we 
trust  that  he  may  live  many  years  to  fill  his  mission  of  use- 
fulness. 


'  ^ag&IH 


DR.  ALEXANDER  HUGH  FERGUSON.  28l 

ALEXANDER  HUGH  FERGUSON,  M.D., 

CHICAGO,    ILL. 

Alexander  Hugh  Ferguson,  M.D.,  CM.,  Professor  of 
Surgery  in  the  Chicago  Post- Graduate  Medical  School  and 
Hospital,  Surgeon  to  the  Chicago  Hospital,  Cook  County 
Hospital  for  the  Insane,  and  Charity  Hospital,  was  born 
February  27,  1853,  ^n  Ontario  County,  Canada.  His 
parents  were  Alexander  and  Ann  (McFadyen)  Ferguson, 
natives  of  Scotland,  of  which  he  is  proud,  and  can  himself 
talk  the  Gaelic  language.  Dr.  Ferguson  was  educated  at 
the  common  schools,  Rockwood  Academy,  Manitoba  Col- 
lege, Toronto  University,  and  Trinity  Medical  School, 
where  he  was  graduated,  in  1881,  as  first  silver  medalist. 
He  received  post  graduate  training  in  New  York,  Glasgow, 
London,  and  Berlin,  taking  a  thorough  course  in  bacteri- 
ology under  Professor  Koch,  believing  it  essential  for  a 
surgeon  to  have  a  practical  knowledge  of  this  branch  of 
medical  science. 

In  1882  he  left  a  promising  practice  in  Buffalo,  N.  Y., 
and  went  to  Winnipeg,  to  please  his  mother,  who  was  then 
living  there.  In  the  same  year  he  was  appointed  Registrar 
of  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  of  Manitoba, 
and. in  the  following  year  (1883)  he  took  the  most  active 
part  in  founding  Manitoba  Medical  College,  which  has 
been  a  phenomenal  success,  and  now  enjoys  the  name  of 
being  one  of  the  high-grade  medical  schools  in  Canada, 
the  course  being  four  years,  eight  months  each  year,  after 
first  passing  an  entrance  examination  before  the  University 
of  Manitoba.  All  of  the  examinations  are  conducted,  not 
by  the  college,  but  by  the  university  authorities,  which 
insures  thorough  teaching.  Dr.  Ferguson  was  Professor  of 
Physiology  and  Histology  for  three  years,  and  taught  these 


282  DR-  ALEXANDER  HUGH  FERGUS  OX. 

branches  with  much  acceptance.  In  18S6  he  took  the 
Professorship  of  Surgery  upon  the  resignation  of  Dr.  James 
Kerr,  who  now  holds  a  similar  chair  in  Columbia  Univer- 
sity, Washington,  D.  C.  It  was  as  a  teacher  of  surgery 
and  as  an  operator  that  he  gained  his  wide  reputation. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  staff  of  the  Winnipeg  General 
Hospital  and  Surgeon-in-chief  to  the  St.  Boniface  Hospi- 
tal, which  furnished  him  all  the  material  that  was  desired 
for  clinical  and  operative  purposes.  The  major  operative 
work  of  Brandon  and  Morden  Hospitals  was  also  done  by 
him,  being  called  to  these  places  when  several  difficult 
cases  had  been  collected.  He  enjoyed  the  respect  and 
confidence  of  the  profession  and  people,  as  well  as  the 
loyal  devotion  and  veneration  of  his  students,  which  is  so 
beautifully  expressed  in  addresses  presented  to  him  when 
leaving  Canada  to  take  his  present  position  in  Chicago, 
The  Sisters  of  Charity  refused  to  accept  his  resignation  as 
Surgeon-in- chief  to  their  hospital,  with  the  hope  that  some 
day  he  might  return.  This  is  a  compliment  which  Dr. 
Ferguson  values  very  highly.  He  was  Registrar  and  Treas- 
urer of  the  College  ;  a  member  of  the  University  Council; 
was  the  first  President  of  the  Manitoba  branch  f  pioneer) 
of  the  British  Medical  Association,  formed  in  1892  by  Mr. 
Ernest  Hart,  editor  of  the  British  Medical 'Journal,  and  the 
Government  appointed  him  a  member  of  the  Provincial 
Board  of  Health. 

On  December  18,  1893,  the  chair  of  Surgery  in  the 
Chicago  Post-Graduate  Medical  School  and  Hospital  was 
offered  to  Dr.  Ferguson,  which,  after  due  consideration,  he 
accepted,  and  assumed  his  duties  in  June,  1894. 

There  is  hardly  a  major  operation  on  the  body  but  he 
has  performed.  His  work  on  hydatids  of  the  liver  has 
been  the  most  extensive  of  any  man  in  America,  which 
was  instrumental  in  first  bringing  him  into  notice.  He  has 
successfully  performed  partial  hepatectomy,  splenectomy^ 
nephrectomies,   craniectomies,   thyroidectomies,  hip-joint 


DR.  ALEXANDER  HUGH  FERGUSON. 


283 


amputations,  excisions,  thoracoplasty  (Schede),  pylorec- 
tomy,  excisions  of  the  csecum,  herniotomies  (radical  cure), 
cholecystduodenostomies,  appendicectomies,  ovariotomies, 
hysterectomies,  etc.,  all  of  which  would  be  too  numerous 
to  mention.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  Dr.  Ferguson  has  opened 
the  abdomen  over  eight  hundred  times.  He  was  the  first  to 
use  Murphy's  button  to  unite  the  duodenum  to  the  stomach 
after  removing  a  cancerous  pylorus.  The  patient,  aged 
thirty-nine  years,  gained  sixty-three  pounds  in  weight, 
and  is  now,  over  three  years  after  the  operation,  in  good 
health,  working  on  a  farm.  He  was  the  first  to  make  an 
anastomosis  with  Murphy's  button  after  excision  of  a  can- 
cerous csecum,  1893  ;  the  man  is  still  alive  and  able  to  earn 
his  own  living. 

The  doctor  has  devised  an  operation  for  the  cure  of 
vesico-vaginal  and  recto-vaginal  fistula,  which  was  first 
published  in  the  British  Medical  Journal,  February  24, 
1894,  and  again  in  the  American  Journal  of  Obstetrics,  vol. 
xxxi.,  No.  4,  1895.  He  also  made  advances  in  the  radical 
cure  of  hernia,  and  invented  an  operation  for  the  closure 
of  biliary  fistula.  The  principal  papers  published  by  Dr. 
Ferguson  are:  "Hydatids  of  the  Liver,"  Northwestern 
Lancet,  February  1,  1893;  "Vesico-vaginal  and  Recto- 
vaginal Fistula,"  British  Medical  Journal,  February  24, 
1894;  "Operative  Treatment  of  Diseases  of  the  Gall- 
bladder," Journal  of  the  American  Medical  Association, 
January  19,  1895;  "On  the  Radical  Cure  of  Inguinal 
and  Femoral  Hernia  by  Operation,"  Annals  of  Surgery, 
May,  1895  ■>  "Biliary  Fistula,"  Chicago  Medical  Recorder, 
September,  1895  ;  "  Pylorectomy  in  America,"  The  Inter- 
national Jour  ?ial  of  Surgery,  May,  1896;  "Varices  of  the 
Leg,"  Chicago  Medical  Recorder,  June,  1896;  "Thoraco- 
plasty in  America,  and  Visceral  Pleurectomy,  with  Report 
of  a  Cast,11  Journal  of  the  American  Medical  Association, 
January,  1897,  etc. 

Dr.  Ferguson  is  recognized  as  one  of  the  best  surgeons 


284  DR.  SARAH  J.  MC NUTT. 

in  Chicago,  and  all  his  time  is  devoted  to  the  teaching  and 
practice  of  surgery.  He  is  a  member  of  the  British  Medi- 
cal Association,  the  American  Medical  Association,  Chicago 
Medical  Society,  Chicago  Gynaecological  Society,  the  Phy- 
sicians' Club  of  Chicago,  Military  Tract  Medical  Associa- 
tion, Wayne  County  Medical  Society,  and  also  a  Fellow 
of  the  Chicago  Academy  of  Medicine  and  of  the  American 
Association  of  Obstetricians  and  Gynaecologists. 

In  religion  he  is  a  Presbyterian.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Scottish  Rite,  32d  degree  A.  ¥.  and  A.  M.,  and  other 
societies.  In  1882  Dr.  Ferguson  was  married  to  Miss 
Thomas,  daughter  of  the  late  Edward  Thomas,  Esq.,  a 
wealthy  pioneer  of  Nassagaweya,  near  Guelph,  Ontario, 
Canada.  His  family  consists  of  two  sons,  Ivan  Havelock 
and  Alexander  Donald. 


SARAH  J.  McNUTT,  M.D., 

NEW    YORK,    N.    Y. 

Dr.  McNutt's  ancestry  is  of  special  interest,  not  only 
from  the  distinguished  men  which  it  includes,  but  also 
from  the  women  eminent  in  medical  skill  and  in  affairs 
with  whom  she  claims  kinship.  Her  direct  ancestor  went 
from  Scotland  with  Edward  Bruce  at  the  time  of  the  inva- 
sion, and  thereafter  settled  in  the  north  of  Ireland.  Her 
great-grandfather,  William  McNutt,  married  Sarah  James, 
granddaughter  of  Lord  Elgin,  thus  reuniting  his  line  with 
the  earlier  Scottish  ancestry.  In  1750  they  came  to 
America  and  settled  on  a  tract  of  land  now  the  city  of 
Manchester,  N.  H.,  where  her  father,  James  McNutt,  was 
born. 

Dr.  McNutt's  mother,  Adeline  Waite,  was  a  descendant 
of  the  Swayne  family,  who  trace  back  to  the  Danish  King 
of  that  name,  who  conquered  England  in  1013. 


<£Lu.d  Q&  9^2?^$). 


DR.  SARAH  J.  MCNUTT.  285 

Richard  Swayne,  an  English  Quaker,  came  to  America 
in  1635,  and,  with  his  son  John,  was  one  of  the  nine  pur- 
chasers of  the  Island  of  Nantucket  in  1659.  This  John 
Swayne  married  Mary,  daughter  of  Nathaniel  and  Sarah 
Weir.  In  the  genealogical  records  of  the  Island  is  found 
this  paragraph:  "The  nine  purchasers  gave  the  husband 
of  Sarah  Weir  a  tract  of  land  and  other  inducements  to 
come  with  them  to  the  island  and  bring  his  wife  Sarah — 
and  for  over  thirty  years  she  was  the  only  physician  on 
the  island,  and  was  very  successful  in  the  treatment  of 
fevers."  Franklin  Folger,  an  authority  on  Nantucket 
genealogy,  says:  "Sarah  Weir  was  a  most  efficient  and 
useful  woman  in  the  early  settlement,  and  her  skill  as  a 
physician  has  given  her  a  character  and  a  name  worthy  of 
enduriDg  fame."  William  Swayne,  Jr.,  great-grandson  of 
Richard  above  mentioned,  married  Mary  Pollard,  great- 
great-granddaughter  of  Mary  Starbuck,  daughter  of  Tris- 
tram Coffin,  the  first  chief  magistrate  of  Nantucket.  Mary 
Starbuck  was  called  by  writers  of  her  period  "the  great 
woman,"  "a  '  Deborah'  among  them, for  her  wisdom  and 
great  ability,  being  as  often  consulted  in  town  affairs  as 
she  was  in  religious  matters."  She  died  in  171 7.  A  year 
previous  was  born  her  great-granddaughter  Rachel  Hussey, 
afterward  Rachel  Bunker.  Of  her  it  was  said:  "During 
her  time  she  discoursed  much  Christian  fortitude  and  res- 
ignation and  closed  a  life  of  usefulness  with  calmness  and 
serenity.  For  thirty-three  years  she  was  eminently  success- 
ful in  her  profession,  having  in  that  time  assisted  at  the 
birth  of  twenty-nine  hundred  and  ninety-two  children." 
In  the  direct  line  also  of  Mary  Starbuck  were  Lucretia 
Mott,  eminent  in  philanthropy,  and  Rev.  Phcebe  Hanna- 
ford,  the  preacher  and  philanthropist. 

Dr.  McNutt's  grandmother  and  Benjamin  Franklin  were 
cousins.  She  has  read  letters  from  Franklin  to  her  grand- 
mother, still  in  the  possession  of  her  family,  in  which  he 
signs  himself  "Your  own  cousin,  Ben." 


286  DR.  SARAH  J.  MCNUTT. 

Of  such  a  lineage,  rich  in  examples  of  high  endeavor,  of 
conspicuous  successes,  of  forceful  character,  worthily  comes 
Dr.  McNutt. 

She  was  graduated  from  the  Albany  Normal  School  and 
later  attended  the  Emma  Willard  Seminary,  at  Troy.  She 
then  took  a  special  course  in  languages.  School-teaching 
occupied  her  for  several  years,  and  the  experience  and 
insight  into  human  nature  thereby  gained  she  has  always 
considered  a  most  valuable  preparation  for  her  life-work. 

In  1877  Dr.  McXutt  received  her  degree  at  The  Woman's 
Medical  College  of  the  New  York  Infirmary  and  served  as 
interne  for  two  years  in  the  hospital  connected  with  the 
college.  She  was  instructor  in  the  college  for  a  number 
of  years  in  gynaecology,  and  later  was  appointed  consultant 
to  the  same  department  in  the  dispensary.  She  served  five 
years  as  Assistant  to  the  Chair  of  General  Surgery,  and  dur- 
ing that  time  was  college  instructor  in  that  department. 

Two  weeks  after  the  founding  of  the  New  York  Post- 
Graduate  Hospital  she  was  asked  to  accept  a  position  in 
connection  with  the  Department  of  Children's  Diseases. 
A  month  later  she  became  instructor  and  soon  after  lec- 
turer, which  position  she  occupied  until  1888.  During 
this  time  she  was  brought  face  to  face  with  the  fact — -now 
almost  incredible — that  in  the  city  of  New  York,  with  a 
population  of  over  a  million  and  a  half,  there  was  not  a 
single  ward  in  any  hospital  devoted  exclusively  to  chil- 
dren under  two  years  of  age.  To  realize  the  need  of  such 
an  institution  was  with  her  to  take  immediate  steps  to  pro- 
vide one.  The  result  was  her  founding  of  the  "Babies' 
Wards  ' '  with  twenty-four  beds.  Besides  the  relief  afforded 
they  supplied  an  opportunity  for  bedside  instruction  that 
then  could  not  be  obtained  elsewhere.  The  "Babies' 
Wards"  with  seventy  beds  is  now  one  of  the  prominent 
features  of  the  new  Post-Graduate  Hospital.  Out  of  the 
"Babies'  Wards"  grew  the  Babies'  Hospital,  to  which 
she  was  attending  physician  for  two  years.     She  was  forced 


DR.   SARAH  J.   MCNVTT.  2%7 

to  withdraw  her  interest  from  this,  her  favorite  charity,  as 
her  special  work  had  grown  so  greatly  as  to  demand  her 
entire  attention.  In  1888  she  resigned  from  the  faculty 
of  the  New  York  Post- Graduate  Medical  School  and  since 
has  devoted  her  time  and  energies  to  gynaecology  and  spe- 
cial surgery. 

She  was  one  of  the  incorporators  of  the  Post-Graduate 
Training  School  for  Nurses,  the  founding  of  which  and 
its  subsequent  growth  are  due  to  the  judicious  manage- 
ment and  energy  of  her  sister,  Dr.  Julia  G.  McNutt,  her- 
self a  painstaking,  successful  physician.  The  graduates  of 
this  school  have  had  the  benefit  of  a  variety  of  experience 
and  instruction  in  the  Presbyterian,  Post-Graduate,  Roose- 
velt, St.  Elizabeth's,  Nursery  and  Child's  Hospitals,  and 
the  Manhattan  Eye  and  Ear  Infirmary. 

Dr.  McNutt  was  frequently  brought  into  contact  with 
that  numerous  class  of  people  who,  while  in  health  are  self- 
supporting,  but  who,  in  illness,  cannot  afford  to  pay  for 
the  attendance  of  a  trained  nurse.  To  meet  the  necessi- 
ties of  such  people  the  "Du  Bois  Fund"  was  established 
by  the  late  Mrs.  Cornelius  Du  Bois,  at  the  suggestion  and 
on  the  advice  of  Dr.  McNutt. 

No  mention  of  her  professional  career  would  be  com- 
plete without  reference  to  her  work  in  the  Morgue,  which 
extended  over  a  period  of  several  years.  The  idea  of 
utilizing  the  material  at  the  Morgue  for  instruction  in  the 
pathological  conditions  of  children  was  original  with  her, 
and  its  value  can  be  attested  by  the  various  members  of 
her  classes  at  the  New  York  Post-Graduate  Medical  School. 
Under  her  supervision  they  had  practical  experience  in  all 
the  operations  performed  on  children.  She  also  found 
there  an  opportunity  to  perfect  herself  in  gynaecological 
surgery  and  abdominal  work. 

She  is  the  only  woman  who  has  been  admitted  to  mem- 
bership in  the  American  Neurological  Society.  Extracts 
from  the  paper  on  the  case  of  "  Double  Infantile  Hemi- 


2gS  DR.  SARAH  J.   MCNUTT. 

plegia,"  which  she  presented  to  the  Society  on  that  occa- 
sion, have  been  quoted  frequently  by  both  American  and 
European  writers. 

Dr.  McNutt  is  also  a  member  of  the  following  societies: 
The  New  York  Academy  of  Medicine,  Medical  Society  of 
the  County  of  New  York,  New  York  Pathological  Society, 
New  York  Physicians'  Mutual  Aid  Association.  She  is 
examiner  for  the  Penn  and  for  the  Niederland  Life  Insur- 
ance Associations. 

The  following  are  some  of  the  papers  read  and  published 
by  her: 

"Therapeutics  of  Children's  Diseases.''  Quarterly  Bulletin  of  Post- 
Grad.  Clin.  Soc,  1884. 

"Acute  Diffuse  Nephritis  following  Intestinal  Catarrh.''  Quarterly 
Bulletin  of  Post-Grad.  Clin.  Soc,  December,  1884. 

"  Report  of  a  Case  of  Entire  Destruction  of  Left  Lung,  with  small  re- 
mains of  Right  Lung."     N.  Y.  Path.  Soc. 

"  Report  of  Case  of  Croupous  Pneumonia  in  an  Infant.''  Alum.  Assoc, 
of  Woman's  Med.  Coll. 

"  Intracranial  Hemorrhage  in  Children."  Post-Grad.  Clin.  Soc,  Janu- 
ary, 1885.     Medical  Record,  1885. 

"Apoplexia  Neonatorum."  Alum.  Assoc,  of  Woman's  Med.  Coll., 
1885.     Amer.  Journ.  Med.  Sciences,  1885. 

"Seven  Cases  of  Spastic  Hemiplegia."     Arch.  Pediatrics,  1885. 

"  Double  Infantile  Hemiplegia."  Amer.  Neurol.  Assoc,  1884.  Amer. 
Journ.  Med.  Sciences,  1885. 

"A  Rare  Case  of  Meningocele."     Post-Grad.  Clin.  Soc,  1887. 

"  Infant-feeding.''     Alum.  Assoc,  of  Woman's  Med.  Coll. 

"A  Case  of  Retention  Cyst  of  the  Vagina. "  Alum.  Assoc,  of  Woman's 
Med.  Coll. 

"A  Case  of  Multiple  Tumors  of  Cerebrum  in  a  Child."  Amer.  Neurol. 
Assoc,  1888.      Transactions  Amer.  Neurol.  Assoc,  1888. 

"  Pachymeningitis  Internse  Hemorrhagica;."  Path.  Soc,  1888.  Med. 
Record,  1889. 

"  Epithelioma  Ovarii."     Alum.  Assoc,  of  Woman's  Med.  Coll.,  1890. 

"Hygiene  of  Childhood — Dress."  Alum.  Assoc,  of  Woman's  Med. 
Coll. 

Dr.  McNutt  is  one  of  the  attending  Physicians  in  the 
Gynaecological  Department  of  the  New  York  Infirmary. 
She  has  been  connected  with  the  Dispensary  of  the  New 


DR.  SAMUEL  D.    GROSS.  28o 

York  Infirmary  continuously  since  her  graduation ;  for 
nineteen  years  she  has  worked  in  the  Gynaecological  De- 
partment and  for  eleven  years  in  the  Children's. 

Anxious  to  see  every  phase  of  surgical  work,  she  has 
visited  and  studied  at  the  principal  hospitals  of  Europe. 

She  is  resourceful,  enthusiastic,  untiring;  and  combines 
an  abundance  of  common  sense,  with  great  mechanical 
ingenuity. 

Charity  is  one  of  the  dominant  traits  of  a  physician  who 
has  caught  the  inspiration  of  the  profession.  She  has  a 
heart  which  is  as  large  as  her  knowledge  of  medicine  is 
broad;  and  her  charitable  work  has  not  been  dropped 
since  her  practice  has  become  lucrative;  she  spends  her 
time  and  strength  just  as  generously  as  she  did  in  the 
earlier  days.  Her  kindness  to  young  practitioners  is  well 
known  and  appreciated. 

That  such  a  physician  should  be  successful  goes  without 
saying.  The  practice  of  her  profession  has  broadened  and 
ennobled  Dr.  McNutt.  Dr.  McNutt  has  elevated  and 
illustrated  her  profession. 


SAMUEL   D.   GROSS,  M.D.,1 

PHILADELPHIA,   PA. 

Dr.  Samuel  D.  Gross  was  born  near  Easton,  Pennsyl- 
vania, July  8,  1805.  His  early  education  was  gained  at 
schools  in  Wilkesbarre  and  Lawrenceville,  after  which  he 
began  the  study  of  medicine,  first  under  Dr.  Swift,  of 
Easton,  later  under  Dr.  George  McClellan,  of  Philadelphia. 

He  entered  the  Jefferson  Medical  College,  from  which 
he  was  graduated  in  1828,  and  at  once  began  the  practice 
of  his  profession  in  Philadelphia.     During  this  early  period 

1  Taken  by  permission   from  Makers  of  Philadelphia.      Published  by 
L.  R.  Hamersly  &  Co.,  Philadelphia,  June,  1894. 
vol.  Ii: — 19 


290 


DR.  SAMUEL  D.   GROSS. 


of  his  career  he  translated  several  French  and  German 
medical  works,  and  wrote  an  important  original  treatise, 
Diseases  and  Injuries  of  the  Bones  and  Joints,  which  was 
published  in  1830.     .     .     . 

In  1833  he  became  Demonstrator  of  Anatomy  in  the 
Medical  College  of  Ohio,  at  Cincinnati.  Two  years  after- 
ward he  accepted  the  Chair  of  Pathological  Anatomy  in 
the  Medical  Department  of  the  Cincinnati  College,  where 
he  delivered  the  first  systematic  course  of  lectures  on  mor- 
bid anatomy  ever  given  in  the  United  States.     .     . 

In  1840  he  became  Professor  of  Surgery  in  the  Univer- 
sity of  Louisville,  Kentucky.  He  retained  this  position 
until  1856,  with  the  exception  of  one  year's  service,  in  1850, 
in  a  similar  position  in  the  University  of  New  York. 

While  in  Louisville  he  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the 
Kentucky  State  Medical  Society,  and  afterward  its  Presi- 
dent. 

He  returned  to  Philadelphia  in  1856,  and  became  Pro- 
fessor of  Surgery  in  the  Jefferson  Medical  College,  a  chair 
which  he  filled  till  1882,  when  he  resigned  and  was  made 
Professor  Emeritus. 

During  these  fifty  years  of  service  as  an  instructor  in 
medical  science  Dr.  Gross  lectured  to  a  larger  number  of 
students  than  any  other  surgeon  in  this  country.  It  is  said 
that  his  name  is  attached  to  more  than  ten  thousand  diplo- 
mas of  students  from  all  parts  of  the  United  States  and 
many  foreign  countries. 

As  a  teacher  he  was  highly  popular,  and  remarkably 
successful  in  the  art  of  imparting  knowledge,  and  his  re- 
tirement from  Jefferson  Medical  College  was  viewed  with 
universal  regret.     . 

As  an  operator  he  held  the  foremost  rank,  being  clear 
in  diagnosis,  cool  and  self-possessed  in  action,  and  quick 
in  deciding  on  the  proper  course  of  treatment.  He  never 
lost  a  patient  on  the  table  from  shock  or  loss  of  blood.  His 
work  was   performed  well,   rapidly,   and  brilliantly,   but 


Qcx^^^^^s^ 


DR.  LE  WIS  A.   SA  YRE. 


29I 


never  with  careless  haste  or  reckless  experiment.  His  ex- 
tensive knowledge  of  disease  made  him  safe  and  sure  in 
his  diagnosis,  and  no  students  were  ever  better  taught  than 
those  under  the  happy  instruction  of  Dr.  Gross.     .     .     . 

He  was  a  member  of  medical  societies  in  all  parts  of 
the  world.     . 

In  1 86  7  he  was  President  of  the  American  Medical 
Association,  and  he  was  the  founder  of  the  Philadelphia 
Academy  of  Surgery  and  of  the  American  Surgical  Asso- 
ciation. He  was  twice  a  delegate  to  the  British  Medical 
Association,  and  was  President  of  the  International  Medi- 
cal Congress  at  Philadelphia  in  1876. 

He  received  the  degree  of  D.C.L.  from  the  University 
of  Oxford  in  1872,  and  of  LL.D.  from  Jefferson  College 
and  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  from  the  University  of 
Cambridge,  England,  in  1880,  and  from  the  University  of 
Edinburgh  a  few  days  before  his  death,  which  took  place 
May  6,  1884. 

No  other  American  physician  or  surgeon  of  the  century 
has  attained  a  greater  reputation  at  home  or  abroad. 


LEWIS  A.  SAYRE,  M.D., 

NEW  YORK,   N.  Y. 

Lewis  Albert  Sayre,  a  distinguished  physician  and 
surgeon  of  New  York  City,  was  born  at  Bottle  Hill  (now 
Madison),  Morris  County,  New  Jersey,  February  29,  1820. 

He  is  descended  from  a  revolutionary  patriot,  his  grand- 
father, Ephraim  Sayre,  having  been  a  brave  soldier  in  the 
War  of  the  Revolution,  in  which  he  held  the  office  of 
Quartermaster. 

His  son  Archibald  was  a  wealthy  farmer  of  Morris 
County,  a  leader  in  all  public  affairs  of  the  community. 
The  son  of  the  latter,  Lewis  A-  Sayre,  when  a  boy  of  but 
four  years  of  age,  was  intrusted  with  the  honorable  task  of 


2Q2  DR.   LEWIS  A.  SAYRE. 

reciting  a  poem  of  welcome  before  La  Fayette,  the  dis- 
tinguished soldier  and  friend  of  Washington,  on  his 
triumphal  tour  through  this  country  in  1824.  This  inci- 
dent made  a  marked  impression  on  the  boy,  and  he  re- 
ferred to  it  with  pleasure  in  a  conversation  with  a  descend- 
ant of  La  Fayette  during  the  Bartholdi  statue  presentation 
banquet. 

Young  Sayre  received  his  early  education  in  the  local 
academy  of  his  native  place,  and  afterward  studied  at  the 
Wantage  Seminary  at  Deckertown,  New  Jersey,  subse- 
quently taking  a  collegiate  course  at  the  Transylvania 
University,  Kentucky.  He  was  graduated  there  in  1839. 
His  uncle,  with  whom  he  then  lived  at  Lexington,  Ken- 
tucky, wished  him  to  enter  the  Church,  but  the  young 
man's  predilection  was  for  the  profession  of  medicine, 
and,  deciding  to  devote  himself  to  that  study,  he  proceeded 
to  New  York,  where  he  entered  the  College  of  Physicians 
and  Surgeons,  graduating  in  1842  with  the  degree  of 
M.D.  His  graduation  thesis  on  "Spinal  Irritation"  was 
published  in  a  medical  journal,  and  excited  much  attention 
by  the  evidence  of  unusual  ability  which  it  displayed. 

He  continued  in  the  college  until  1852,  with  the  position 
of  prosector  to  the  professor  of  surgery,  engaging  mean- 
while in  private  practice,  which  grew  so  great  at  length 
that  he  was  obliged  to  retire,  when  he  was  appointed 
emeritus  prosector.  In  the  following  year  he  was  ap- 
pointed Surgeon  to  Bellevue  Hospital,  and  in  1859  was 
made  Surgeon  to  the  Charity  Hospital  on  Blackwell's 
Island,  and  Consulting  Surgeon  there  in  1873. 

When  the  Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College  was  organ- 
ized, in  1861,  Dr.  Sayre  took  a  leading  part  in  this 
movement,  and  on  the  formation  of  its  faculty  he  was 
made  Professor  of  Orthopaedic  Surgery  and  Fractures  and 
Luxations.  He  still  holds  the  orthopaedic  surgery  pro- 
fessorship. 

Dr.  Sayre  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  New  York 


DR.  LEWIS  A.  SAYRE.  2QX 

Pathological  Society,  assisted  in  the  formation  of  The 
New  York  Academy  of  Medicine  and  the  American  Medi- 
cal Association,  and  was  made  Vice-President  of  the  last- 
named  Association  in  1866,  and  its  President  in  1880.  In 
1866  he  was  appointed  Resident  Physician  of  the  city  of 
New  York,  a  position  in  which  his  ability  and  energy  were  of 
the  utmost  value  to  the  metropolis,  while  his  reports  covered 
such  important  subjects  as  drainage,  sewerage,  compulsory 
vaccination,  and  the  treatment  of  cholera.  In  1876,  while 
acting  as  a  delegate  to  the  International  Medical  Con- 
gress at  Philadelphia,  he  presented  a  paper  on  "Morbus 
Coxarius,"  or  hip-joint  disease,  the  operation  for  which  he 
was  the  first  American  surgeon  to  perform  successfully  and 
without  resulting  deformity.  He  was  also  successful  in  his 
treatment  of  Pott's  disease  and  lateral  curvature  of  the 
spine. 

In  1 871,  and  again  in  1877,  Dr.  Sayre  went  abroad, 
where  he  was  received  with  flattering  demonstrations  as 
the  greatest  living  practitioner  in  his  special  field  of  sur- 
gery. He  lectured  before  the  medical  schools  of  the  lead- 
ing British  cities  and  gave  practical  demonstrations  of  the 
value  of  his  mode  of  treatment,  receiving  the  warmest 
thanks  of  the  profession. 

During  the  latter  visit  he  prepared  and  published  his 
important  work,  An  Illustrated  Treatise  on  Spinal  Disease 
and  Spinal  Curvature.  He  has  also  published  A  Practical 
Manual  of  Club  foot  and  Lectures  on  Orthopcedic  Surgery 
and  Diseases  of  the  Joints.  All  these  works  are  recognized 
authorities  on  their  respective  subjects,  and  have  been 
translated  into  several  languages.  In  addition  to  these 
works  he  has  written  numerous  papers  for  medical  periodi- 
cals on  subjects  connected  with  his  extended  practice.  He 
is  a  member  of  many  medical  societies  of  the  United  States 
and  the  leading  societies  abroad,  and  is  the  inventor  of  a 
number  of  instruments  which  have  proved  of  the  greatest 
service  in  surgery. 


2Q4  DR-  JULIA    W-    CARPENTER. 

Dr.  Sayre  was  married  in  1849  to  Miss  Eliza  A.  Hall,  a 
lady  of  rare  intellectual  endowments.  Of  his  three  sons, 
two  have  died.  The  third  son,  Dr.  Reginald  Hall  Sayre, 
is  associated  with  him  in  practice. 

His  daughter,  Miss  Mary  Hall  Sayre,  is  a  brilliant  and 
accomplished  lady,  who  aids  her  father  greatly  by  trans- 
lating for  his  use  articles  from  foreign  medical  journals. 

(The  foregoing  sketch  of  Lewis  A.  Sayre,  M.D.,  has, 
by  permission,  been  taken  from  Makers  of  New  York, 
published  by  L.  R.  Hamersly  &  Co.,  Philadelphia,  1895. 
— The  Author.) 


JULIA   W.    CARPENTER,  M.D., 

CINCINNATI,  OHIO. 

Dr.  Julia  Wiltberger  Carpenter  is  a  native  of  Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio,  the  Queen  City  of  the  West.  Her  family 
were  among  its  early  settlers.  Her  paternal  great-grand- 
father, Abraham  Freeman,  was  an  Englishman,  the  oldest 
son,  and  entitled  to  the  whole  inheritance. 

Thinking  this  unjust  he  divided  the  estate  equally  with 
the  other  children  ;  came  to  the  United  States,  and  settled 
in  Cincinnati,  Ohio.  Owning  the  tract  of  land  through 
which  Freeman  Avenue  now  runs,  this  avenue  was  named 
for  him. 

Her  grandfather,  Captain  Joseph  Carpenter,  a  man  of 
education  and  enterprise,  was,  in  his  earliest  manhood, 
editor  and  proprietor  of  the  first  newspaper  published  in 
Cincinnati,  called  The  Western  Spy.  Copies  of  this  paper 
are  to  be  seen  at  the  Young  Men's  Mercantile  Library 
Association. 

Her  father,  Dr.  Isaac  Bates  Carpenter,  recently  deceased, 
was  a  graduate  of  Jefferson  Medical  College  in  Philadel- 
phia.    After  practicing  there  several  years,  he  married  and 


^UyLaJ  /fT * {%iJa^UUC>9h,  Of. 


DR.  JULIA    W.   CARPENTER.  2g$ 

returned  to  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  and  engaged  in  mercantile 
business.  From  this  he  retired  about  fifteen  years  before 
his  decease,  and  enjoyed  a  life  of  ease  and  literary  pursuits. 

Her  mother,  Susan  Ellmaker,  was  the  daughter  of  David 
Ellmaker,  of  Philadelphia,  one  of  the  eleven  men  who 
founded  St,  Andrew's  Episcopal  Church,  and  who  with 
his  wife,  Julia  Wiltberger,  now  rests  in  its  church-yard. 

Dr.  Julia  Carpenter  is  one  of  six  children,  and  the  only 
one  who  has  become  a  physician.  She  choose  this  profes- 
sion because  it  was  open  to  women,  and  not  because  she 
preferred  it  above  everything  else,  for  there  is  no  depart- 
ment of  study  that  did  not  have  some  charm  for  her.  Her 
mother  tells  how  she  insisted  on  going  to  school  at  four 
years  of  age,  and  has  practically  kept  it  up  ever  since. 
Her  education  was  a  very  thorough  one,  including  the 
higher  mathematics,  with  mathematical  astronomy  and  the 
sciences. 

The  Woman's  Medical  College  of  Pennsylvania,  in 
Philadelphia,  is  her  Alma  Mater  in  medicine.  The  Doctor 
was  interne  one  year  in  the  Woman's  Hospital  connected 
with  this  college,  and  before  going  to  Europe  to  study  she 
spent  two  years  in  the  McMicken  University  at  Cincinnati, 
studying  French,  German,  and  practical  chemistry. 

Over  two  years  were  then  passed  in  Europe,  studying  one 
year  in  the  hospitals  of  Vienna  and  one  year  in  the  hos- 
pitals of  Paris.  From  the  various  professors  with  whom 
she  studied  in  these  two  cities  she  has  very  complimentary 
certificates.  After  several  months  more  of  travel  through 
Europe  she  returned  to  Cincinnati,  and  opened  an  office 
in  the  middle  of  November,  1878. 

Dr.  Thad.  A.  Reamy  immediately  called  and  advised 
her  to  join  the  Cincinnati  Academy  of  Medicine.  For  this 
Dr.  Carpenter  expressed  a  readiness  if  the  society  was 
friendly  enough  to  elect  her  to  membership.  Dr.  Reamy 
then  proposed  her  name  for  membership,  and  she  was 
unanimously  elected. 


296  DR-  JULIA    tV.   CARPENTER. 

Two  days  later,  December  18,  1878,  in  the  Cincinnati 
Daily  Gazette  there  appeared  the  following  notice  in  the 
first  editorial  column  : 

"The  Cincinnati  Academy  of  Medicine  has  shown  its 
good  sense  and  freedom  from  antiquated  prejudices  in  elect- 
ing Dr.  Julia  W.  Carpenter  to  its  membership.  She  is  the 
first  practitioner  of  her  sex  to  receive  this  mark  of  apprecia- 
tion. It  is  well  deserved.  She  has  adopted  her  profession 
not  from  necessity,  but  inclination,  relinquishing  volun- 
tarily the  life  of  ease  with  which  so  many  young  women  are 
content,  and  preparing  herself  for  her  professional  duties 
by  thorough  study  at  home  and  abroad.  The  time  has 
passed,  here  at  least,  when  industry  and  ambition  can  be 
set  down  as  incompatible  with  social  station  or  feminine 
refinement." 

Dr.  Carpenter's  entrance  paper  at  the  Academy  of  Medi- 
cine was  on  an  eye  subject,  "  Keratoscopy."  This  was 
afterward  published  in  the  Cincinnati  Lancet  and  Clinic, 
March  1,  1879,  an^  was  copied  into  several  other  medical 
journals,  including  one  in  St.  Petersburg,  Russia.  She  has 
continued  to  contribute  occasional  papers  to  the  various 
societies  of  which  she  is  a  member,  and  these  appear  after- 
ward, as  usual,  in  the  journals.  As  a  writer  her  style  is 
concise,  clear,  and  forcible. 

The  Doctor  has  held  a  number  of  positions  of  honor, 
viz.:  Vice  President  of  the  Cincinnati  Academy  of  Medi- 
cine, Professor  of  Physiology  in  the  Women's  Medical 
College  connected  with  the  Presbyterian  Hospital  for 
Women,  Cincinnati,  one  of  the  staff  of  the  Presbyterian 
Hospital,  and  one  of  the  associate  editors  of  the  Women's 
Medical  Journal.  She  is  a  member  of  the  following  societies : 
Cincinnati  Academy  of  Medicine,  Cincinnati  Obstetrical 
Society,  Ohio  State  Medical  Society,  and  the  American 
Medical  Association. 

In  Dr.  Carpenter's  case  there  was  no  period  of  waiting 
for  a  practice.     It  began  at   once.     Those  of  her  friends 


*— • 


I 


^2\^^>~^ 


DR.   EDWARD  A.  AYERS. 


297 


who  bad  opposed  her  studying   medicine   soon   became 
proud  of  her  success. 

Dr.  Carpenter  has  not  gone  beyond  minor  surgery  in 
that  domain.  Her  special  interest  is  more  in  the  causes  of 
disease,  and  the  trend  of  her  thought  and  study  is  in  the 
line  of  the  prevention  of  disease,  and  the  overcoming  of 
it  by  the  application  of  the  knowledge  of  the  body  as  it  is 
acquired. 

EDWARD   A.  AYERS,  M.D., 

NEW   YORK,   N.  Y. 

Dr.  Edward  Augustus  Ayers,  No.  8  East  34th  Street, 
New  York  City,  was  born  in  the  city  of  Jacksonville,  111., 
December  20,  1855.  His  father,  Marshall  Paul  Ayers, 
moved  with  his  parents  from  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  to  Jack- 
sonville in  1 83 1,  at  the  age  of  seven  years,  and  settled  in 
the  then  village  of  Jacksonville,  because  it  was  to  be  a 
college  town  and  represent  the  educational  extension  of 
the  Eastern  universities  in  the  West.  His  mother,  Laura 
Allan,  daughter  of  John  Allan,  a  Presbyterian  minister,  of 
Huntsville,  Alabama,  moved  to  this  young  community  soon 
after  her  maturity. 

Dr.  Ayers  received  his  education  in  the  district  school, 
high  school,  and  Whipple  Academy,  graduating  from  the 
Illinois  College  in  1877.  His  medical  education  began 
under  the  tutelage  of  the  widely  known  and  highly  hon- 
ored surgeon,  Dr.  David  Prince. 

After  spending  a  preliminary  season  at  the  Miami 
Medical  College  in  Cincinnati,  he  entered  the  Medical 
Department  of  the  University  of  the  City  of  New  York, 
from  which  he  was  graduated,  in  1880,  in  a  class  of  204. 
His  "Thesis  on  Massage"  received  honorable  mention. 
The  eighteen  months  following  graduation  were  devoted 
to  clinical  study  and  laboratory  work.      The  ten  years 


298 


DR.   EDWARD  A.  AYERS. 


following  this  period  were  spent  in  association  with  the 
distinguished  surgeon  Dr.  John  A.  Wyeth,  to  whose  in- 
spiring influence  and  surgical  genius  much  credit  is  due 
in  this  trying  period  of  professional  development  in  the 
great  city  of  New  York. 

Dr.  Ayers  acted  as  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  New  York 
Polyclinic  during  the  first  five  years  of  its  existence,  treat- 
ing, in  fact,  the  first  patient  ever  attended  beneath  its  roof, 
and  took  an  active  part  in  the  evolution  and  formation  of 
this  pioneer  post-graduate  school.  The  Clinical  Depart- 
ment of  Obstetrics  was  placed  in  his  hands  in  1884,  and, 
after  building  up  the  work  to  satisfactory  proportions  and 
developing  a  high  degree  of  interest  in  the  advancement 
of  this  science  among  the  physicians  attending  the  insti- 
tution, he  was  elected  Professor  of  Obstetrics  in  1887. 

Dr.  Ayers  was  the  organizer  and  founder  of  the  Mothers' 
and  Babies'  Hospital,  an  institution  organized  for  the  care 
of  homeless  and  needy  mothers  during  confinement.  The 
hospital  now  cares  for  forty  patients  a  month,  and  in  its 
aid  to  poor  mothers,  its  training  for  physicians  and  nurses, 
and  its  influence  in  the  advancement  of  obstetric  methods 
along  the  line  of  the  best  modern  science,  it  has  a  vast 
influence  for  good  and  is  an  enduring  honor  to  those  re- 
sponsible for  its  existence.  It  is  one  of  the  Doctor's  special 
ambitions  to  bring  the  scientific  development  of  obstetrics 
in  this  institution  up  to  the  highest  standard  possible, 
whereby  it  shall  become  a  recognized  example  of  the  best 
obstetric  work.  During  the  years  of  his  service  as  a 
teacher  over  four  thousand  physicians  have  received  train- 
ing in  his  classes  in  the  science  and  art  of  obstetrics. 

Dr.  Ayers  was  one  of  the  first  of  modern  instructors  to 
give  practical  instruction  in  abdominal  palpation,  pelvi- 
metry, and  other  antepartum  investigations  aiming  at  the 
prevention  of  the  many  unnecessary  accidents  compli- 
cating child-bearing,  a  custom  which,  next  to  the  preven- 
tion of  infection,  has  done  more  to  advance  the  standard 


DR.   EDWARD  A.  AYERS.  2QQ 

of  obstetrical  work  than  any  other  improvement  of  modern 
times. 

Of  the  more  important  contributions  to  medical  litera- 
ture by  Dr.  Ayers  are  the  following  :  A  paper  on  "  Version 
before  Labor  j"  "  Studies  in  the  Decidua  and  Retained 
Membranes  of  the  Ovum;"  "  Amnionitis;  "  "The  De- 
cidua in  the  Diagnosis  of  Extra-uterine  Pregnancy;" 
"Puerperal  Infection,"  a  paper  read  before  the  Pan- 
American  Medical  Congress,  held  in  Washington  in  1893; 
"  Symphyseotomy  and  its  After-effects,  with  a  Description 
of  a  New  Method  and  the  Report  of  Four  Successful 
Cases,"  which  was  read  at  the  Academy  of  Medicine, 
January  23,  1896,  in  which  he  advocates  a  method  of 
performing  the  operation  in  preference  to  those  of  Mori- 
sani  and  Pinard,  which  is  carefully  described,  and  has  been 
tested  in  eight  cases  operated  upon  by  the  author  and  a 
number  of  other  physicians.  This  was  the  first  paper  to 
give  a  complete  report  of  the  after-effects  of  symphyse- 
otomy in  America,  the  records  of  which  will  have  a  de- 
cided influence  in  extending  the  good  favor  in  which  this 
operation  is  held.  Ayers's  Physical  Diagnosis  and  Pro- 
phylaxis in  Obstetrics  will  shortly  appear  in  book-form. 
Among  the  appliances  in  medicine,  "Ayers's  Improved 
Thomas  Perforator  "  and  "Ayers's  Ligature  Tightener" 
may  be  mentioned. 

Dr.  Ayers  married  Miss  Joy  Lindsley,  of  Washington, 
D.  C,  daughter  of  the  late  Dr.  Van  Sinderen  Lindsley,  of 
Nashville,  Tennessee. 

Dr.  Ayers  is  a  member  of  The  New  York  Academy  of 
Medicine,  Medical  Society  of  the  County  of  New  York, 
and  New  York  Pathological  Society ;  Trustee  and  Professor 
of  Obstetrics  in  the  New  York  Polyclinic  Medical  School ; 
Physician-in-Chief  of  the  Mothers'  and  Babies'  Hospital, 
and  is  connected  with  the  Central  Hospital  of  Brooklyn 
and  various  other  organizations. 


300  DR-  HENRY  PARKER  NEWMAN. 


HENRY  PARKER  NEWMAN,  A.M.,  M.D., 

CHICAGO,  ILL. 

Henry  Parker  Newman,  A.M.,  M.D.,  son  of  James 
and  Abby  (Everett)  Newman,  grandson  of  James  Madison 
Newman,  and  a  descendant  of  the  old  Fairbanks  and 
Everett  families  of  New  England,  was  born  at  Washington, 
N.  H.,  December  2,  1853. 

His  boyhood  was  spent  in  Hillsboro  Bridge,  N.  H.,  and 
hi;  early  education  acquired  at  the  public  schools  there 
and  at  the  New  London  Literary  and  Scientific  Institute. 

He  began  to  read  medicine  with  Dr.  George  Cook,  of 
Concord,  N.  H.  (since  Surgeon-General  of  the  StateJ,  and 
afterward  attended  lectures  at  Dartmouth  Medical  College. 
It  was  this  old  and  honored  institution  which  conferred 
upon  him  the  degree  of  A.M.  in  1893. 

Dr.  Newman  was  graduated  from  the  Detroit  College  of 
Medicine,  Mich.,  in  1878. 

While  a  senior  student  he  was  House  Physician  at  St. 
Luke's  Hospital,  Detroit. 

He  then  spent  two  years  in  study  in  Germany  in  the 
Universities  of  Strasburg,  Leipsig,  and  Bonn. 

Returning  to  the  United  States  he  settled  permanently 
in  Chicago. 

While  a  man  of  broad  professional  culture  and  interest 
from  the  first,  Dr.  Newman's  special  efforts  have  been  di- 
rected to  gynaecology,  and  his  writings  and  original  re- 
search have  been  in  that  line. 

He  has  achieved  brilliant  and  successful  results  in  plastic 
gynaecological  surgery,  and  has  devised  new  and  original 
surgical  methods  and  invented  a  number  of  very  practical 
instruments  for  use  in  his  special  branch  of  surgery. 

He  has  been  Editor  of  the  Department  of  Obstetrics  and 
Gynaecology  in    the  North  American  Practitioner  since 


/^r/^UiA*-^*^.  ^/A..skJ., 


DR.  HENRY  PARKER  NEWMAN.  3OI 

1893,  in  which  journal  appeared,  in  1889,  a  "History  of 
Obstetrics  "  from  his  pen.  He  is  also  the  author  of  papers 
on  "Shock  and  Nervous  Influences  in  Parturition,"  "  The 
Remote  Results  of  Shortening  the  Round  Ligaments  for 
Uterine  Displacements,"  "  Curettage,  Trachelorrhaphy, 
and  Ventrofixation,"  "The  Sequelae  of  Abortions,"  "A 
Plea  for  More  Thorough  Training  in  General  Medicine 
and  Obstetrics  on  the  Part  of  the  Gynaecologists,"  "  Fads 
and  Fallacies  Gynaecological,"  etc. 

He  also  edits  the  Gynaecological  Department  of  Medicine 
and  contributes  to  the  current  medical  literature  of  the 
day. 

Dr.  Newman  is  Corresponding  Fellow  of  the  Detroit 
Gynaecological  Society ;  member  and  Chairman  of  the 
Committee  on  Membership  of  the  Chicago  Medical  So- 
ciety ;  Fellow  and  Secretary  of  the  Chicago  Gynaecologi- 
cal Society;  Fellow  of  the  American  Gynecological  So- 
ciety; member  and  Treasurer  of  the  American  Medical 
Association  and  of  The  American  Academy  of  Medicine ; 
member  of  the  Illinois  State  Medical  Society,  of  the  Chi- 
cago Pathological  Society,  and  of  the  International  Medi- 
cal Congress,  having  been  a  delegate  to  the  tenth  congress 
in  Berlin,  1890.  Dr.  Newman  is  a  Founder  of  the  Inter- 
national Periodical  Congress  of  Obstetricians  and  Gynae- 
cologists ;  a  Director  and  formerly  President  of  the  Post- 
Graduate  Medical  School,  Chicago,  and  Professor  of 
Diseases  of  Women  in  the  same  since  1888  ;  Professor  of 
Clinical  Gynaecology,  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons, 
of  which  institution  he  has  been  an  active  promoter  since 
its  organization  in  1881  ;  Surgeon  in  the  Department  of 
Diseases  of  Women  in  the  Post-Graduate  and  Chicago 
Hospitals  ;  Attending  Surgeon  to  St.  Elizabeth's  Hospital; 
and  Gynaecologist-in-chief  to  the  West  Side  Free  Dispen- 
sary. 

In  1894  the  Doctor  established  "  The  Marion  Sims 
Sanitarium,"  a  small  but  elegantly  appointed  private  hos- 


g02  DR-   FRANK  HARTLEY. 

pital,  and  the  success  of  this  model  institution  is  a  source 
of  great  gratification  to  its  founder. 

Dr.  Newman  is  a  man  of  dignified  presence  and  kindly- 
manner,  affable  and  entertaining  in  society.  In  1882  he 
married  Fanny  Louise,  daughter  of  L.  S.  Hodges,  a  lead- 
ing lawyer  of  Chicago.  Their  children  are  Helen  Everett 
and  Willard  Hodges,  living,  and  Eugene  Bush  and  Isabel 
Fairbanks,  deceased. 


FRANK   HARTLEY,  M.D., 

NEW  YORK,  N.  Y. 

Dr.  Frank  Hartley  was  born  in  Washington,  D.  C, 
June  10,  1857.  He  belongs  to  an  old  and  prominent  New 
England  family,  being  the  son  of  the  Hon.  John  F.  Hart- 
ley and  Mary  D.  King,  of  Saco,  Maine.  On  his  paternal 
side  Dr.  Hartley  is  descended  from  the  Fairfields,  origin- 
ally Beauchamps.  The  name  "  Fairfield,"  properly  inter- 
preted, means  "  A  fair  field  and  no  favor." 

It  is  a  trite  saying  in  Saco,  Maine,  "  that  fifth  cousins, 
once  removed,  are  near  for  Fairfields."  On  his  mother's 
side  Dr.  Hartley  is  descended  from  William  Kinge,  the 
celebrated  English  Puritan  who  settled  in  Salem,  Mass.,  in 

1635- 

Dr.  Hartley  received  his  early  education  in  Washington, 
D.  C,  at  the  Emerson  Institute,  from  which  place  he  pre- 
pared for  Princeton  College,  entering  the  Class  of  1877. 

After  finishing  his  education  in  college  he  entered  the 
Medical  Department  of  the  College  of  Physicians  and 
Surgeons  in  the  city  of  New  York,  where  he  became  a 
student  of  Dr.  H.  B.  Sands,  and  was  graduated  in  1880. 
In  the  same  year  he  entered  the  Bellevue  Hospital,  upon 
the  surgical  staff,  where  he  served  for  a  period  of  eighteen 
months. 


DR.  FRANK  HARTLE  Y. 


303 


In  1882  he  went  abroad  to  study,  and  completed  his 
surgical  education  in  Berlin,  Heidelberg,  and  Vienna.  He 
remained  in  Europe  for  two  years,  and  returned  to  New 
York  City  in  1884,  where  he  became  identified  with  Dr. 
H.  B.  Sands,  and  was  associated  with  him  in  his  private 
work,  as  well  as  being  appointed  his  assistant  at  the  Roose- 
velt Hospital. 

In  1886  Dr.  Hartley  was  appointed  Visiting  Surgeon  to 
the  Bellevue  Hospital,  which  position  he  held  for  four 
years,  and  which  he  relinquished  upon  being  appointed 
Attending  Surgeon  to  the  New  York  Hospital  in  1889. 
During  this  period,  from  1886  to  1889,  he  was  Assistant 
Surgeon  at  the  Roosevelt  Hospital  and  Attending  Sur- 
geon to  the  Bellevue  and  New  York  Cancer  Hospitals. 
During  this  time  Dr.  Hartley  devoted  himself  particularly 
to  the  early  work  in  Dr.  Sands's  articles  upon  appendicitis, 
and  published  at  that  time  the  first  article,  embracing  his 
own  and  Dr.  Sands's  experience  in  the  early  operation  for 
appendicitis,  giving  the  history  and  lesions  found  in  some 
sixteen  cases  of  that  disease. 

Subsequently  Dr.  Hartley  wrote  upon  the  "  Congenital 
Deformities  of  the  Neck,  the  Thyroid  Gland,  and  the 
Operative  Treatment  of  Club-foot."  His  greatest  work 
was  the  "  Intracranial  Method  of  Operation  for  the  Relief 
of  Trigeminal  Neuralgia,"  in  which  the  ganglion  of  Gasser 
was  extirpated.  In  this  operation  he  was  an  independent 
discoverer  with  Professor  Krause,  of  Altona,  Germany, 
the  name  of  the  operation  being  the  Hartley- Krause 
method. 

Dr.  Hartley  continued  in  the  service  of  Roosevelt  Hos- 
pital until  1896,  during  which  time  he  was  the  active  aid 
of  both  Dr.  Sands  and  Dr.  Charles  McBurney,  and  has 
since  1885  been  associated  with  the  College  of  Physicians 
and  Surgeons ;  first,  as  Demonstrator  of  Anatomy,  and, 
subsequently,  as  Instructor  in  Operative  Surgery  upon  the 
Cadaver. 


30-  DR.  ELLE/V  M.  KIRK 

Dr.  Hartley  has  been  an  active  member  of  many  socie- 
ties, including  the  New  York  Surgical  Society,  of  which 
he  is  now  President ;  New  York  Clinical ;  Medico-Surgi- 
cal; New  York  Derraatological ;  and  Alumni  of  Bellevue 
Hospital  Societies.  He  is  at  present  Attending  Surgeon 
to  the  New  York  Hospital,  where  he  is  actively  engaged  in 
the  work. 

Although  Dr.  Hartley  is  comparatively  young  in  years, 
he  has  a  large  and  extensive  medical  experience,  which  he 
has  acquired  by  his  perseverance  and  a  determination  to 
succeed  in  his  chosen  profession,  which  have  won  him  an 
enviable  reputation  as  one  of  the  leading  surgeons  of  New 
York  City. 

He  is  quiet  and  unassuming  in  manner,  having  strong 
personal  magnetism,  and  is  appreciated  by  friends  and  pa- 
tients for  his  sincerity  and  true  worth.  He  has  a  lucrative 
practice,  but  devotes  much  of  his  time  to  the  New  York 
Hospital. 


ELLEN  M.  KIRK,  M.D., 

CINCINNATI,   OHIO. 

Dr.  Ellen  M.  Kirk  is  of  Scotch  English  descent,  and 
is  the  daughter  of  Jonathan  Huston  and  Marcella  Kirk,  of 
Guilford  Township,  Winnebago  County,  Illinois.  Her 
father  is  descended  from  the  early  Quakers  of  Cecil  County, 
Maryland,  his  grandmother,  Mary  Alien  Kirk,  being  a 
near  relative  of  Ethan  Allen,  of  Revolutionary  fame.  Her 
mother  is  descended  from  the  early  English  settlers  of  New 
Jersey.  They  were  among  the  pioneers  of  the  State  of 
Illinois,  and  were  married  July  3,  1844,  commencing  life 
upon  the  farm  where  they  still  live.  Two  years  ago  they 
celebrated  their  golden  wedding  with  their  surviving  three 
children  and  grandchildren  about  them.     Dr.  Kirk's  early 


DR.  ELLEN  M.   KIRK.  oqc 

educational  advantages  were  such  as  the  district  school 
afforded,  to  which  she  walked  daily,  a  distance  of  two 
miles.  At  the  age  of  fifteen  she  entered  Forest  Hill  Semi- 
nary, a  school  for  young  women  located  in  Rockford, 
Illinois,  and  then  conducted  on  the  plan  of  Mt.  Holyoke. 
Two  years  were  spent  in  this  institution,  when  she  taught 
a  few  terms  in  the  country  schools  near  her  home.  Then, 
thinking  to  make  teaching  a  profession,  she  decided  to 
enter  the  Illinois  State  Normal  School,  and  devote  herself 
to  special  preparation. 

About  two  years  were  thus  spent,  when,  feeling  the  need 
of  remunerative  employment,  she  entered  regularly  into 
the  work  of  teaching  until  1875.  The  greater  part  of  this 
time  was  spent  in  the  public  schools  of  Rockford,  seven 
miles  from  her  birth-place. 

Early  in  this  experience  her  attention  was  frequently 
called  to  the  great  disparity  in  work  and  pay  of  male  and 
female  teachers.  Attending  regularly  the  Teachers'  Insti- 
tutes, and  hearing  the  subject  of  salaries  discussed  in  the 
one-sided  manner  which  usually  characterized  it,  she  be- 
came convinced  of  the  injustice  and  determined  upon  a 
change  of  profession. 

Her  attention  had  been  attracted  to  the  study  of  medi- 
cine by  reading  the  achievements  of  the  few  women  then 
in  the  field,  combined  with  an  impulse  in  that  direction 
as  the  result  of  a  past  experience. 

Some  years  before,  while  caring  for  an  aunt  whose  illness 
proved  fatal,  the  consultations  of  physicians,  differences  of 
opinion,  and  methods  of  treatment  aroused  in  her  a  keen 
desire  to  understand  more  of  the  "whys"  and  "where- 
fores ' '  both  of  disease  and  medicine. 

While  pondering  over  the  best  means  of  undertaking 
the  study,  a  young  woman,  who  had  taken  her  degree  from 
Ann  Arbor,  Mich.,  located  in  Rockford,  111.  Dr.  Kirk 
immediately  made  her  acquaintance  and  became  a  student. 
For  over  two  years  all  the  time  that  could  be  spared  from 

VOL.  II. — 20 


306 


DR.  ELLEX  M.  KIRK. 


her  school  duties  were  spent  on  chemistry — doing  much 
laboratory  work,  anatomy,  physiology,  and  general  reading. 
During  these  years  of  teaching,  by  exercising  great  econ- 
omy, sufficient  money  was  saved  from  her  earnings  to  meet 
the  demands  of  her  medical  education. 

October,  1875,  found  her  on  the  way  to  New  York  to 
enter  the  New  York  Medical  College  and  Hospital  for 
Women,  from  which  she  received  her  degree  in  the  spring 
of  1877.  Realizing  the  need  of  immediate  experience  and 
special  study  she  remained  in  New  York  one  year,  devoting 
her  entire  time  to  dispensary  and  hospital  work  and  special 
lecture  courses. 

May  9,  1878,  she  located  in  Cincinnati,  a  stranger  with 
a  few  letters  of  introduction  to  local  physicians  from 
former  professors,  and  a  purse  containing  only  money 
upon  which  she  was  paying  ten  per  cent,  interest. 

Determining  to  trust  to  her  own  ability  and  efforts, 
rather  than  call  upon  her  father' for  assistance,  she  accepted 
deprivations  and  sacrifices  as  invaluable  adjuncts  in  her 
education,  and,  believing  in  the  possibilities  of  herself  and 
the  future,  never  faltered  during  those  trying  first  years  of 
her  professional  life. 

One  year  later,  she,  with  an  associate,  and  the  co  opera- 
tion of  a  few  interested  and  philanthropic  people,  opened 
a  Free  Dispensary  for  Women  and  Children,  which  afforded 
a  large  clinical  experience,  and  rapidly  made  the  want  of 
a  hospital  connected  with  the  work  felt.  Their  effort  was 
crowned  with  success,  and  the  Ohio  Hospital  for  Women 
and  Children  was  incorporated  October  12,  1881,  and  in 
June,  1882,  a  small  but  well-equipped  hospital  was  opened 
to  patients. 

This  building  proved  inadequate  to  meet  the  demands, 
and  in  1888  a  suitable  commodious  building  was  purchased, 
and  the  hospital  recognized  as  a  permanent  institution. 
Through  all  these  years  Dr.  Kirk  has  been  untiring  in  her 
efforts  in  behalf  of  this  cherished  work.     It  had  afforded 


^^a<^Vn^&UY  (c/Kfcc^— > 


DR.  MARY  WOOLSEY  NOXON. 


307 


an  excellent  opportunity  for  large  gynaecological  experi- 
ence and  study,  and  the  conclusion  that  proper  adjustment 
of  clothing,  rest,  and  conservative  treatment  will  save 
many  a  patient  from  the  operating  table ;  not  ignoring  the 
importance  of  surgery,  to  which  she  resorts  when  inevi- 
table, but  deprecating  the  tendency  to  the  prominence  of 
the  knife  in  the  treatment  of  pelvic  disorders.  Her  own 
success  fully  justifies  this  conclusion. 

She  is  a  member  of  the  American  Institute  of  Homoe- 
opathy, State  and  City  Societies. 

She  is  a  clear,  concise,  and  able  writer,  but  not  a  fre- 
quent contributor. 

She  enjoys  a  large  and  lucrative  practice  as  a  reward  for 
faithful  devotion  to  her  profession. 


MARY   WOOLSEY   NOXON,  M.D., 

NEW    YORK,    N.   Y. 

Dr.  Mary  Woolsey  Noxon  was  born  in  Poughquag,  a 
small  town  in  Dutchess  County,  N.  Y.,  in  1845.  Her 
parents  were  Mary  W.  and  Elenore  Noxon. 

As  a  child  she  delighted  to  accompany  the  family  phy- 
sician upon  his  rounds,  doubtless  strengthening,  if  not 
developing,  in  his  companionship  the  inclination  which, 
later,  ruled  her  life.  She  soon  possessed  herself  of  an  old 
pair  of  saddle-bags,  and  filled  them  with  bottles  of  quack 
medicines,  which  she  freely  dispensed  to  the  colored  labor- 
ers, and  even  to  the  animals  about  the  place. 

Her  desire  to  study  medicine  was  met  by  decided  oppo- 
sition from  her  family,  as  at  that  time  the  woman-physician 
had  not  conquered  the  prejudices  of  the  world.  However, 
Miss  Noxon  won  her  way,  and  was  graduated  from  The 
New  York  Medical  College  and  Hospital  for  Women 
(Homoeopathic)  in  1873.     Afterward  she  availed  herself 


3o8 


DR.   MARY  WOOLSEY  NOXON. 


of  opportunities  for  European  studies  during  various  vaca- 
tions abroad. 

Immediately  after  graduation  she  established  herself  in 
New  York  City,  acquiring  very  speedily  an  extensive  and 
lucrative  practice.  She  became  a  member  of  the  county 
and  Slate  medical  societies  and  of  the  American  Institute 
of  Homoeopathy.  In  her  later  years  she  served  as  one  of 
the  Consulting  Staff  of  the  Hahnemann  Hospital  of  New- 
York  City. 

Dr.  Noxon  was  unusually  endowed.  She  possessed  a 
magnificent  physique  and  robust  health ;  also  mental 
powers  beyond  the  average,  which  her  wealth  enabled 
her  to  cultivate  fully.  Thus  equipped,  she  entered  upon  her 
chosen  life-work,  not  urged  by  ambition  nor  for  gain,  but 
through  intense  attraction  for  its  possibilities.  Those  whose 
privilege  it  was  to  know  her  can  bear  testimony  to  the  tre- 
mendous energy  she  threw  into  her  profession,  taxing  her 
phenomenal  constitution  to  its  utmost  endurance.  She 
knew  her  art,  and  her  faith  in  its  resources  to  alleviate 
disease  was  firm  and  sure. 

She  was  honest  in  intention,  frank  and  often  exceed- 
ingly brusque  in  speech,  with  a  broad  and  masculine  sense 
of  humor.  She  was  loyal  to  friends  and  patients,  and 
untiringly  charitable.  Her  memory  was  encyclopaedic ; 
she  was  full  of  resource  in  emergency ;  rarely  intuitive 
and  perceptive ;  most  tenacious  in  purpose,  and  direct 
in  action.  Her  manner  was  usually  very  suave,  and  with 
a  magnetism  that  inspired  instant  confidence  in  the  most 
timid  or  doubting  patient. 

These  attributes,  combined  with  unerring  diagnosis  and 
success  in  treatment,  gained  for  her  the  unbounded  love 
and  respect  of  her  immense  clientele.  She  was  to  each 
patient  not  only  physician,  but  friend,  consulted  in  ill- 
ness, in  family  affairs,  in  pecuniary  emergencies ;  indeed, 
in  every  crisis  of  life. 

Upon  such  qualities  does  her  reputation  rest ;  by  them 


DR.  MARY  WOOLSEY  NOXON.  ^OQ 

alone  was  her  success  achieved.  She  accepted  no  pro- 
fessorship; wrote  neither  books  nor  articles  for  publica- 
tion ;  reported  no  cases ;  attended  no  meetings  of  county 
or  State  medical  societies ;  and  this  from  no  lack  of  inter- 
est, but  because  for  any  exertion  beyond  her  direct  work 
she  had  neither  time  nor  vitality. 

She  was  in  constant  consultation  with  the  best  physicians 
and  surgeons  of  both  schools  and  of  every  specialty.  Dr. 
J.  Marion  Sims  was  her  warm  friend  and  admirer.  The 
beginning  of  her  acquaintance  with  him  illustrates  the  de- 
termination of  her  character  and  the  directness  with  which 
she  achieved  any  purpose. 

While  still  a  student  in  the  homoeopathic  college  where 
she  was  graduated,  she  determined  also  to  secure  the  benefit 
of  Dr.  Sims's  instructions.  She  went  boldly  to  his  clinic 
in  Lexington  Avenue,  enrolled  her  name  without  allusion 
to  her  status  or  her  school,  and  obtained  the  especial  re- 
gard and  assistance  of  this  eminent  surgeon.  Nor  was  his 
interest  in  her  ever  lessened.  His  last  professional  call, 
the  night  before  his  sudden  death,  was  made  with  her  upon 
one  of  her  patients,  and  the  news  of  his  death  the  next 
morning  was  a  prostrating  blow  to  her. 

While  in  college  she  had  a  decided  fondness  for  surgery, 
and  was  ever  ready — too  ready,  her  professors  feared — to 
undertake  surgical  work,  as  when,  in  the  dispensary  of  the 
college,  with  the  aid  of  another  student,  she  successfully 
removed  a  large  tumor  from  the  head  without  professorial 
permission  or  supervision. 

By  the  bedside  or  the  operating-table  her  gentleness  was 
exceptional  and  won  from  her  patients  an  adoring  affection. 

Fortunately,  she  determined  finally  upon  gynaecology 
as  her  specialty,  restricting  her  surgery  to  minor  opera- 
tions, in  which  she  was  prompt  and  successful. 

So  entrenched  was  she  in  the  confidence  of  her  patients 
that  a  well-known  physician  has  said  they  prospered  better 
under  an  inferior  treatment  of  hers  than  under  the  hesi- 


,1Q  DR.  DOWLING  BENJAMIN. 

tating  but  superior  care  of  another.  It  would  be  diffi- 
cult to  convince  her  patients  that  her  treatment  ever  was 
inferior. 

Outside  of  professional  works  Dr.  Noxon  was  not  a 
reader.  Literature,  as  such,  had  no  charm  comparable 
to  information  upon  her  favorite  theme — the  alleviation 
and  cure  of  suffering.  Her  relaxation  was  found  in  the 
comedy  and  farce  of  life  as  enacted  about  her ;  in  the 
bright  and  naive  sayings  of  children,  of  whom  she  was 
very  fond  ;  and  in  the  antics  of  pets  of  all  kinds,  which 
she  delighted  to  gather  about  her. 

Probably  owing  to  the  intense  strain  of  mind  and  body 
to  which  she  subjected  herself  in  her  earlier  professional 
career,  a  valvular  lesion  of  the  heart  developed,  which,  on 
several  occasions,  seriously  threatened  her  life  ;  but,  know- 
ing the  limitations  to  which  this  subjected  her,  she  learned 
to  avoid  and  suppress  undue  excitements  and  bodily 
strain,  and  thus  evaded  death  from  heart-failure,  but, 
nevertheless,  died  instantly  from  apoplexy,  January  16, 
1895,  to  be  enshrined  henceforth  in  thousands  of  loving 
hearts. 

DOWLING   BENJAMIN,  M.D., 

CAMDEN,    N.    J. 

The  ancestors  of  Dowling  Benjamin  have  for  genera- 
tions taken  an  honorable  part  in  the  history  of  Maryland, 
Virginia,  and  North  Carolina.  His  great-grandfather, 
Joseph  Benjamin,  of  an  English  family,  settled  in  Mary- 
land in  1774.  The  next  year  he  went  to  Virginia,  and 
immediately  after  the  news  of  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill 
reached  that  State  he  joined  Harry  Lee's  Light  Horse 
Legion,  then  organizing  at  Amelia  Court  House,  and 
served  with  it  during  the  Revolutionary  War.  After  the 
war  he  settled  in  Charlestown,  Maryland,  and  was  one  of 


C&4^Z^^^- 


'Tit. 


DR.  BOWLING  BENJAMIN.  ?ll 

the  first  trustees  and  founders  of  the  Methodist  Church  in 
that  locality.  His  son,  Isaac  Benjamin,  Sheriff  of  Talbot 
County,  the  Doctor's  grandfather,  married  a  Miss  Alex- 
ander, of  a  prominent  Scotch-Irish  family,  two  of  whose 
members  had  served  respectively  as  President  and  Secre- 
tary of  the  historic  Mecklenburg  Convention  of  North 
Carolina  in  1775,  signing  the  original  Declaration  of 
Independence,  there  first  officially  promulgated.  The 
Doctor's  maternal  grandfather  served  in  the  War  of  181  2. 

Dr.  Benjamin  was  born  in  Baltimore,  Maryland,  in 
1849.  After  obtaining  an  English  education  in  the  public 
schools,  he  made  a  study  of  the  ancient  and  modern 
languages  and  sciences,  under  private  tutors,  preparatory 
to  entering  an  advanced  class  in  Dickinson  College.  He 
got  a  position  in  a  drug-store  and  soon  passed  the  examina- 
tion of  the  State  Board  of  Pharmacy.  Thus  well  qualified, 
he  began  the  study  of  medicine,  and  the  celebrated  D. 
Hayes  Agnew  was  one  of  his  medical  preceptors.  He  was 
graduated  in  1877  from  the  University  of  Pennsylvania, 
in  the  medical  department,  having  passed  the  highest  ex- 
amination in  all  branches,  and  was  honorably  mentioned 
by  the  faculty  on  receiving  his  degree. 

While  a  student  the  truth  and  transcendent  importance 
of  the  bacteriological  pathology  (germ  theory)  of  the  in- 
fectious diseases  and  contagious  fevers,  then  being  devel- 
oped by  Pasteur,  Koch,  and  Lister  in  Europe,  was  quickly 
grasped  by  his  keenly  logical  and  scientific  mind.  Secur- 
ing and  studying  all  the  imported  literature  and  investiga- 
tions of  these  great  pioneers  in  antisepsis,  which  could 
not  be  found  in  any  American  text-book,  and  making 
original  research  and  microscopical  investigations  at  night 
in  the  laboratories,  he  wrote  his  graduating  thesis  on  in- 
fection or  antiseptic  practice.  This  was  believed  by  med- 
ical scholars  to  be  the  first  clear,  logical,  and  convincing 
presentation  of  the  germ  theory  by  an  American  medical 
writer.     The  Professor  of  Practice  of   Medicine  at  the 


2! 2  DR.  DOWLING  BENJAMIN. 

University,  after  carefully  reading,  so  pronounced  it  and 
endorsed  it,  and  afterward  taught  the  germ  theory.  Indeed, 
the  Professor  of  Clinical  Surgery  of  the  University  had 
not  adopted  the  antiseptic  practice  so  late  as  1881.  (See 
International  Encyclopedia  of  Surgery,  vol.  i.  page  599, 
where  the  old  system  is  described.) 

So  far  in  advance  of  the  usual  practice  and  beliefs  of 
the  profession  was  this  thesis,  that  "  convincing  and  clear  " 
as  it  seemed  to  Professor  Stille,  logical  and  beautiful  in 
diction  (it  is  yet  extant)  as  it  is,  it  was  refused  publication 
at  the  time  by  the  Medical  Times,  then  edited  by  his  friend, 
Professor  H.  C.  Wood,  and  by  other  leading  medical 
journals,  on  the  ground  that  "the  theory  of  germs  (mi- 
crobes) being  the  cause  of  disease  was  not  tenable." 

However,  upon  the  early  adoption  of  the  bacteriological 
view  of  infection  and  its  careful  practice  by  Dr.  Benjamin 
have  hinged  some  of  the  most  remarkable  results  ever 
attained  by  a  living  practitioner  of  medicine  ;  for  instance, 
in  his  more  than  twenty  years'  practice  he  has  never  had  a 
death  in  confinement.  Most  of  the  deaths  in  confinement 
come  from  microbes  getting  in  contact  with  the  lesions. 

In  all  his  large  practice,  including  the  time  while  sur- 
geon to  the  P.  R.  R.,  W.  J.  &  C.  A.  R.  R.,  Camden  Iron 
Works,  and  Cooper  Hospital  (over  ten  years,  including 
thousands  of  injuries  and  wounds  of  all  kinds),  no  instance 
of  blood-poisoning  or  lock-jaw  (microbic  diseases)  occurred 
in  any  of  his  cases ;  a  remarkable  example  of  aseptic  prac- 
tice. Only  last  year  he  published  in  the  Journal  of  the 
American  Medical  Association,  October  17,  1S96,  his  great 
paper  on  the  treatment  of  diphtheria,  showing  that  he  had 
not  a  death  from  that  disease  for  over  ten  years,  including 
a  hundred  cases,  many  of  them  of  the  most  malignant 
kind.  This  paper  was  accompanied  by  letters  from  several 
fellow- practitioners  indorsing  and  emphasizing  his  state- 
ments. 

While  the  Doctor  was  quietly  attaining  his  wonderful 


DR.  BOWLING  BENJAMIN 


3*3 


results  of  less  than  1  per  cent,  of  death-rate  for  over  a 
decade,  the  general  average  death-rate  from  the  disease  in 
all  the  United  States  was  47  per  cent.,  and  in  Europe  50 
per  cent.,  according  to  the  official  figures.  Even  the 
recent  1895  antitoxin  treatment  gives  a  death-rate  of  over 
20  per  cent.,  and  even  38  per  cent.,  according  to  some  of 
our  best  authorities.  The  leading  medical  journals  are 
now  discussing  Dr.  Benjamin's  results,  and  the  Journal  of 
Practical  Medicine  says,  editorially,  "it  is  most  astonish- 
ing." These  features  alone  would  undoubtedly  make  his 
death-rate  in  general  practice  the  lowest  on  record. 

Thoroughness  is  one  of  his  greatest  traits,  and  when  he 
investigates  a  subject  his  report  can  be  relied  upon  as  ex- 
haustive and  accurate.  This  is  also  shown  in  many  legal 
contests  in  which  he  was  medical  expert,  as  well  as  in  his 
writings. 

Dr.  Benjamin  settled  in  Camden  in  1877.  The  follow- 
ing year,  as  expert  for  counsel  in  the  Emma  Bethel  murder 
case,  he  produced  a  profound  impression  upon  the  legal 
fraternity  by  demonstrating  for  the  first  time  in  the  world's 
history,  in  a  court  of  law,  by  chemistry  and  the  micro- 
scope, contrary  to  all  text-books  on  chemistry  and  medical 
jurisprudence,  and  to  the  astonishment  of  the  State's 
experts,  that  the  octahedral  crystal  was  not  conclusive 
evidence  of  the  presence  of  arsenic,  but  could  be  produced 
by  another  metal  (antimony).  Up  to  that  time  the 
octahedral  crystal  would  hang  the  accused. 

Dr.  Benjamin  has  taken  an  active  part  in  all  movements 
tending  to  raise  the  standard  of  the  profession.  In  1884 
he  successfully  urged,  in  the  face  of  strong  opposition,  the 
American  Medical  Association  to  proclaim  officially  the 
necessity  of  having  a  full  three-years'  course  in  the  medical 
colleges.  Those  who  were  present  at  that  meeting  dis- 
tinctly remember  that  great  battle ;  his  resolutions  having 
been  opposed  by  some  of  the  leading  professors  of  medical 
colleges,  precipitated  an  exciting  scene. 


3H 


DR.  DOWLING  BENJAMIN. 


The  New  Jersey  Medical  Society  adopted  his  resolution 
to  that  effect  after  he  had  agitated  it  for  two  years.  He 
became  the  spokesman  of  the  physicians  of  the  State  before 
the  Senate  Committee  and  aided  largely  in  getting  the 
measure  passed  in  Trenton.  In  his  speech  before  the  Com- 
mittee in  the  Senate  Chamber  he  clearly  showed  in  pun- 
gent language  that  the  possession  of  a  diploma  even  from 
some  of  the  best  medical  colleges  was  not  a  guarantee  of 
a  proper  medical  education.  This  was  indeed  a  great 
triumph,  not  for  the  interest  of  any  set  of  men,  but  for 
the  profession  and  the  public  as  well.  The  law  that  was 
finally  passed  appointed  a  State  Board  of  Examiners. 

It  may  be  properly  noted  here  that  in  1888  Dr.  Benjamin 
performed  the  first  successful  hysterectomy  (removal  of  the 
entire  womb  and  ovaries)  in  the  State  of  New  Jersey,  for 
a  large  fibroid  tumor  of  the  uterus.  He  afterward  per- 
formed abdominal  section  for  the  removal  of  ovarian 
tumors,  fibroids,  pus-tubes,  and  pelvic  abscesses  in  women 
twenty-one  times  with  uniform  success ;  showing  that  in 
this  class  of  diseases  no  better  work  could  be  done  any- 
where. Broad  and  comprehensive  in  mind,  he  estimates 
all  the  possibilities  in  a  case  and  is  ready  to  meet  them. 

Dr.  Benjamin  has  served  as  Surgeon  to  the  Cooper  Hos- 
pital, and  is  now  Obstetrician-in-Charge  of  the  Maternity 
Department,  and  Gynaecologist  in  that  institution.  He 
was  for  two  years  Assistant  Surgeon  of  the  Sixth  Regiment, 
and  Surgeon  and  Major  of  the  Veteran  Corps  of  the  same 
regiment,  National  Guard  of  New  Jersey.  He  has  been 
Medical  Expert  and  Surgeon  to  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad 
for  fifteen  years.  He  is  Lecturer  on  Obstetrics  in  the  New 
Jersey  Training  School  for  Nurses,  and  has  also  filled  a 
Lectureship  in  the  Medico-Chirurgical  College,  Philadel- 
phia. He  has  served  as  President  of  the  State  Sanitary 
Association  of  New  Jersey,  and  President  of  the  Camden 
District  Medical  Society,  etc.,  and  he  has  represented  his 
State  as  a  Delegate  in  National  and  International  Medical 


DR.  D0WL1NG  BENJAMIN.  sje 

Conventions.     He  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic  fraternity 
and  of  the  M.  E.  Church. 

Many  of  Dr.  Benjamin's  papers  have  been  of  great 
practical  value  and  have  attracted  national  attention,  and 
are  in  demand  by  the  leading  medical  journals.  His 
"Observations  on  the  Relations  of  Temperatures  to  Diseases 
in  Dwelling-houses"  {Med.  Bulletin,  1886)  was  copied  by 
the  Scientific  American  and  all  the  leading  journals,  medi- 
cal and  non-medical.  The  State  Board  of  Health  of  Iowa 
(composed  of  nine  physicians  and  the  Attorney-General) 
recommended  and  published  it  at  the  expense  of  the  State 
for  free  distribution;  giving  the  eminently  satisfactory 
reasons  in  their  report  to  the  Governor  for  so  doing  "  that 
it  would  save  so  many  lives  and  prevent  so  much  sickness." 
Other  States  did  the  same.  What  higher  compliment  could 
a  public  Denefactor  receive  ?  This  essay  has  become  a 
part  of  standard  text-books. 

Some  of  his  published  papers  are  as  follows :  "Typhoid 
in  Water,"  "Contagion,"  "Hysterectomy,"  "Puerperal 
Convulsions,"  "The  Trained  Nurse,"  "  Antiseptic  Opera- 
tions," "Treatment  of  Pneumonia,"  "Ovariotomy," 
"Ventral  Hernia,"  "Present  Position  of  Antiseptic  Prac- 
tice," "Treatment  of  Fracture,"  "Ovarian  and  Fibroid 
Tumors,"  "Treatment  of  Diphtheria,"  and  a  systematic 
work  on  Nursing  and  Confinement.  (Lakeside  Publishing 
Co.,  N.  Y.) 

In  1889  Dr.  Benjamin  married  Miss  Sarah  Cooper  White. 
They  have  three  children.  Mrs.  Benjamin  is  a  lineal  de- 
scendant of  Edwin  Marshall,  identified  with  the  Penns 
in  the  early  colonial  history  of  Pennsylvania.  She  is  an 
intelligent,  highly  cultivated  lady,  and  an  earnest  Chris- 
tian, who  devotes  most  of  her  time  to  contributing  to  the 
welfare  and  happiness  of  her  charming  family. 

Dr.  Benjamin  has  done  much  for  charity,  and  esteems 
it  a  privilege  if  he  can  ennoble  his  profession  and  be  of  ser- 
vice to  humanity. 


316 


DR.   LOUIS  LIVINGSTON  SEAMAN. 


LOUIS   LIVINGSTON   SEAMAN,   M.D.,  LL.B., 

NEW   YORK,   N.  Y. 

Dr.  Louis  Livingston  Seaman,  was  born  October  17, 
185 1,  in  Newburgh,  N.  Y.,  and  is  the  grandson  of  Valentine 
Seaman,  M.D.,  who  introduced  vaccination  into  New 
York  in  1799. 

Dr.  Valentine  Seaman  was  graduated  from  the  University 
of  Pennsylvania  in  1792,  having  been  a  special  student  in 
the  office  of  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush,  and  during  his  life  filled 
many  important  stations  with  honor  and  distinction.  He 
was  one  of  the  Surgeons  of  the  New  York  Hospital  from 
1796  till  his  death  in  181 7,  and  was  the  first  surgeon  to 
teach  clinical  surgery  in  this  institution  or  in  America. 
He  was  President  of  the  Medical  College  which  was  the 
forerunner  of  the  present  College  of  Physicians  and  Sur- 
geons, now  a  part  of  Columbia  University,  and  numbered 
among  his  private  office  students  many  who  in  after  years 
attained  eminence  in  their  profession,  notably  Drs.  Valen- 
tine Mott,  John  C.  Cheeseman,  Isaac  Wood,  William  F. 
Seaman,  Thomas  Cock,  and  Kearney  Rodgers.  His  con- 
tributions to  medical  literature  were  voluminous  and  im- 
portant ;  among  them  was  the  first  Pharmacopoeia  ever 
published  in  America,  a  treatise  on  Midwifery,  one  on 
Kine  Pock  and  Vaccination,  one  on  Yellow  Fever,  and 
"  A  Dissertation  on  the  Mineral  Waters  of  Saratoga,"  pub- 
lished in  1793,  which  is  most  remarkable  for  the  accuracy 
of  its  analysis  as  compared  with  those  made  in  recent 
years.  His  father,  Willett  Seaman,  was  a  merchant  in 
New  York  in  1760,  and  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the 
New  York  Hospital  and  one  of  its  original  governors. 

To  his  paternal  ancestor,  Captain  John  Seaman, 
Charles  I.  issued  a  colonial  grant  in  1637  at  Hempstead 
Plains,  L.  I.     The  descendants  of  Captain  Seaman  were 


^-—Pi  > 


0~Ust4s     C*<*^yt' 


^yyi^~*p« 


g^-f-WL. 


DR.  LOUIS  LIVIXGSTOX  SEAMAN.  ,jy 

prominent  in  the  Dutch,  Indian,  and  Revolutionary  Wars, 
no  less  than  twenty-two  of  them  being  in  one  Long  Island 
company  in  the  Revolution. 

Dr.  Louis  Livingston  Seaman  is  descended  on  his  moth- 
er's side  from  Robert  Livingston,  Fin  t  Lord  of  the  Manor, 
and  from  Philip  Livingston,  signer  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence.  He  is  also  eighth  in  descent  from  Colonel 
Abraham  de  Peyster,  who  was  Mayor  of  New  York  in  1691, 
and  ninth  in  descent  from  Philip  Pieterse  Schuyler  and 
Margritta  Van  Schlictenhorst,  whose  families  were  so  con- 
spicuous in  the  early  French,  Indian,  and  Revolutionary 
Wars  ;  also  ninth  in  descent  from  Major  Hendrick  Cuyler, 
who  commanded  the  Albany  troops  in  the  French  and 
Indian  Wars,  1 685-' 89. 

Dr.  Seaman  was  a  member  of  the  first  class  that  entered 
Cornell  University  in  1868.  He  commenced  the  study  of 
medicine  in  1873,  under  the  preceptorship  of  Dr.  Samuel 
D.  Gross,  of  Philadelphia,  at  Jefferson  Medical  College, 
from  which  he  was  graduated  M.D.  in  1876,  being  the 
gold  medalist;  was  also  graduated  M.D.  from  the  Univer- 
sity Medical  College  of  the  City  of  New  York,  after  a  post- 
graduate course,  in  1877;  and  was  graduated  LL.B.  from 
the  University  of  New  York,  Law  Department,  in  1884. 

Dr.  Seaman  was  appointed  house  physician,  Charity 
Hospital,  B.  I.,  in  1876,  serving  one  year;  was  then  ap- 
pointed resident  surgeon  to  the  New  York  State  Emigrant 
Hospital,  Waid's  Island,  serving  two  years;  was  superin- 
tendent of  the  State  Emigrant  Insane  Asylum,  and  chief 
resident  surgeon  to  the  Emigrant  Institutions,  W.  I.,  1879- 
188 1.  In  1 88 1  he  was  appointed  Chief  of  Staff  of  the 
Charity,  Maternity,  Epileptic  and  Paralytic,  and  Peni- 
tentiary Hospitals,  Blackwell's  Island,  and  of  the  Training 
School  for  Nurses  connected  with  these  institutions.  He 
remained  in  this  position  until  1885.  In  1886  he  made 
a  tour  around  the  world,  in  the  course  of  which  a  con- 
siderable time  was  spent  in   the  hospitals   of  India  and 


3i8 


DR.  LOUIS  LIVINGSTON  SEAMAN. 


China  in  the  study  of  contagious  and  epidemic  diseases 
peculiar  to  the  Orient. 

Returning  to  the  United  States,  Dr.  Seaman  established 
himself  in  the  practice  of  his  profession  in  New  York  City, 
in  which  he  has  since  been  engaged.  He  has  been  visiting 
physician  to  the  New  York  Asylum  for  Lying-in  Women 
since  1S88,  and  consulting  physician  to  the  Colored 
Orphan  Asylum  since  1889. 

During  his  visits  to  Europe  in  1881,  1886,  1890,  and 
1892,  Dr.  Seaman  attended  lectures  at  the  University  of 
Edinburgh  and  at  Vienna,  and  during  the  cholera  epi- 
demic, in  1892,  made  a  special  study  of  cholera  in  the 
hospitals  of  Paris  and  at  Hamburg. 

Dr.  Seaman  is  a  member  of  the  American  Medical 
Association,  Medical  Society  of  the  State  of  New  York, 
Medical  Society  of  the  County  of  New  York,  New  York 
County  Medical  Association,  and  Fellow  of  The  New  York 
Academy  of  Medicine.  He  is  also  a  member  of  the  New 
York  Medical  Union,  New  York  Pathological  Society, 
American  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science, 
Society  of  Medical  Jurisprudence  of  New  York,  American 
Academy  of  Political  and  Social  Science,  International 
Medical  Congress,  Lotos,  Press,  Reform,  Players'  and 
Opera  Clubs,  and  of  the  Society  of  Colonial  Wars,  and  is 
Vice-President  of  the  Cornell  University  Club. 

He  has  been  in  the  practice  of  his  profession  since 
1876,  and  was  a  delegate  to  the  International  Medical 
Congress,  London,  1881,  and  Berlin  in  1890.  He  has 
devised  an  apparatus  for  auscultatory  percussion,  and 
another  for  fractured  patella,  and  is  the  author  of  papers 
on  these  subjects,  as  well  as  upon  the  "  Social  Waste  of 
Great  Cities,"  "Prison  Labor  and  Public  Utility,"  etc. 

Dr.  Seaman  married,  in  1889,  Miss  Fannie  Blackstone 
Freeman,  of  New  York  City,  a  great-great-granddaughter 
of  Sir  William  Blackstone,  the  eminent  jurist.  Mrs. 
Seaman  died  in  1895. 


DR.  IS  ID  OR  P.   STRITTMATTER.  3IQ 


ISIDOR  P.  STRITTMATTER,  M.D., 

PHILADELPHIA,    PA. 

Isidor  Paul  Strittmatter,  M.D.,  999  North  Sixth 
Street,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  son  of  Francis  X.  and  Elizabeth 
M.  (Huber)  Strittmatter,  grandson  of  Andrew  Strittmatter, 
was  born  August  16,  i860,  at  Carrolltown,  Pa. 

With  a  preparatory  education  obtained  in  the  public 
schools  and  at  St.  Vincent  College,  Westmoreland  County, 
Pa.,  he  began  to  read  medicine  in  1877,  and  attended  two 
courses  of  lectures  at  Jefferson  Medical  College,  Philadel- 
phia, receiving  his  degree  from  that  institution  in  March, 
1881. 

Dr.  Strittmatter  was  interne  at  the  German  Hospital, 
Philadelphia,  for  eight  months  following  graduation ;  at 
St.  Mary's  Hospital,  Philadelphia,  for  the  year  1882 ;  and 
since  that  time  has  been  in  the  private  practice  of  medi- 
cine and  surgery  in  that  city.  In  1888  he  was  appointed 
Visiting  Surgeon  to  St.  Mary's  Hospital,  which  position 
he  resigned  in  January,  1897,  in  order  to  give  his  time  to 
his  hospital,  which  is  devoted  to  general  surgery  and  gynae- 
cology. 

From  1887  until  January,  1897,  he  has  conducted  this 
private  hospital  at  999  North  Sixth  Street,  Philadelphia, 
Pa.  The  building  was  inadequate  to  accommodate  the 
numerous  patients  requiring  surgical  treatment  who  de- 
sired to  avail  themselves  of  Dr.  Strittmatter' s  skill,  a  cir- 
cumstance which  necessitated  his  making  an  addition  of 
ten  rooms  to  the  house,  and  also  a  complete  and  perfect 
operating-room.  Dr.  Strittmatter  uses  an  operating-table 
of  his  own  devising,  which  is  made  of  bird's-eye  maple, 
beautifully  polished,  and  has  all  the  appurtenances  neces- 
sary to  make  it  complete  in  every  respect. 

It  was  the  writer's  pleasure  to  visit   Dr.  Strittmatter' s 


•2  20  DR-  ^SIDOR  P.   STR1TTMATTER. 

"Sanatorium"  recently,  and  the  quiet  and  neatness  which 
pervade  the  entire  building  impress  the  visitor  as  being 
a  most  delightful  "home"  to  seek  relief  from  the  various 
ailments  that  he  specially  treats.  The  capacity  permits 
the  comfortable  housing  of  twenty  patients.  The  ventila- 
tion is  arranged  after  a  special  plan,  permitting  the  en- 
trance of  air  near  the  floor,  and  escape  of  the  superheated 
or  foul  air  near  the  ceiling. 

The  halls  have  vents  on  the  top  of  the  house,  permitting 
a  complete  change  of  air  in  a  few  minutes.  The  whole 
water-supply  of  the  house  passes  through  a  large  filter  in 
the  cellar,  is  carried  to  the  roof  to  a  500-gallon  tank,  from 
which  it  is  again  distributed  to  the  various  water  outlets 
in  the  house — insuring  a  constant,  abundant,  clean  water- 
supply. 

Heating  facilities  are  by  hot  water  system,  insuring 
equable,  desirable  temperature.  The  plumbing  is  after  an 
original  plan,  the  traps  being  all  exposed  and  located 
either  in  the  halls  concealed,  or  portions  of  the  building 
not  used  for  surgical  work  or  for  patients.  The  traps  are 
all  arranged  to  permit  of  opening,  cleansing,  and  disin- 
fection. The  protection  against  fire  consists  of  a  three- 
inch  hose  attachment  reaching  to  all  the  floors,  while  three 
independent  stairways,  one  of  which  is  fire-proof,  render 
escape  easy  and  safe. 

Although  in  favor  of  using  electricity  in  surgical  and 
gynaecological  work  much  less  than  in  past  years,  each 
private  room  is  supplied  with  a  power  of  1000  milliam- 
peres  galvanic  current,  as  well  as  faradic,  permitting  the 
attachment  of  current  controller  and  milliamperemeter  or 
current  breaker  for  faradic. 

As  an  operator  Dr.  Strittmatter  is  careful ;  at  the  same 
time  he  makes  a  thorough  diagnosis  of  a  case  before  con- 
senting to  operate,  as  he  is  not  in  favor  of  operating  unless 
absolutely  necessary. 

He  is  full  of  vigor  and  in  the  prime  of  life,  is  deeply 


Jitd. 


DR.  J.   RIDDLE   GOFFE.  ^2I 

interested  in  his  chosen  profession,  and  is  most  solicitous 
to  relieve  his  patients.  He  is  enthusiastic,  generous,  and 
liberal  in  his  views,  and  possesses  a  goodly  share  of  mag- 
netism. 

Dr.  Strittmatter  during  the  first  year  after  his  gradua- 
tion became  a  member  of  the  Pathological  Society  of 
Philadelphia  and  Philadelphia  County  Medical  Societies, 
feeling  a  deep  interest  in  their  transactions,  until  his 
rapidly  growing  private  practice  prevented  his  regular  at- 
tendance. He  is  a  member  of  the  American  Medical 
Association,  the  Medical  Society  of  the  State  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, the  Obstetrical  Society  of  Philadelphia,  the  James 
Aitken  Meigs  Medical  Association,  and  of  the  Northern 
Medical  Association  of  Philadelphia. 


J.  RIDDLE  GOFFE,  PH.B.,  M.D., 

NEW    YORK,   N.   Y. 

Dr.  J.  Riddle  Goffe  was  born  in  Wisconsin,  August 
10,  1 85 1.  He  is  descended  in  direct  line  from  William 
Goffe,  the  regicide,  a  friend  of  Cromwell,  and  brother-in- 
law  of  Hampton,  one  of  the  judges  and  signers  of  the 
death-warrant  of  Charles  I.,  King  of  England.  As  a 
matter  of  family  history,  we  might  add  that,  upon  the 
restoration  and  accession  of  Charles  II.,  the  King  declared 
these  judges  outlaws,  and  Judge  Goffe,  in  company  with 
Judge  Whalley,  fled  to  the  United  States,  and  sought  the 
protection  of  the  colonists,  and  were  by  them  secreted  and 
protected  until  their  deaths. 

Major  John  Goffe  and  Captain  John  Goffe,  descendants 
of  the  regicide,  and  direct  progenitors  of  the  subject  of 
this  sketch,  held  important  commands  in  the  Revolu- 
tionary Army.  Major  Goffe  commanded  a  detachment  at 
Ticonderoga,  and  the  old  book,  giving  the  roster  of  the 

VOL.  II. 21 


222  DR-  J-  MIDDLE   GOFFE. 

officers  in  his  command,  is  still  in  the  possession  of  the 
family.  Captain  John  Goffe  commanded  a  detachment 
of  New  Hampshire  troops  under  General  Stark,  and  has- 
tened with  him  to  the  front  on  the  memorable  occasion 
when  he  announced  that  familiar  philippic,  "  To-morroW 
the  enemy  are  ours,  or  Mollie  Stark  is  a  widow." 

Dr.  Goffe's  mother,  Betsey  Riddle,  was  born  in  New 
Hampshire,  in  1819,  and  also  numbers  among  her  ances- 
tors prominent  Revolutionary  heroes. 

Dr.  Goffe's  parents  were  among  the  early  pioneers  in  the 
State  of  Wisconsin,  going  there  with  a  colony  of  settlers 
from  the  State  of  New  Hampshire,  which  was  their  original 
home,  and  at  Kenosha,  Wis.,  where  they  located. 

Dr.  Goffe  was  born  on  the  10th  of  August,  185 1.  He 
took  his  preparatory  course  for  college  in  the  high  school 
of  his  native  town,  and  entered  the  Literary  Department 
of  the  University  of  Michigan  in  the  fall  of  1869,  gradu- 
ating with  his  class  in  1S73. 

While  in  college  Dr.  Goffe  became  a  member  of  the 
Psi  Upsilon  fraternity.  He  also  acquired  some  taste  for 
journalism  by  acting  as  correspondent  of  the  Detroit 
Daily  Post,  and  spent  the  summer,  after  his  graduation, 
in  journalistic  work  in  the  city  of  Cincinnati.  In  the 
autumn  of  that  year,  however,  he  abandoned  the  proposed 
career  of  a  journalist  and  became  principal  of  the  public 
schools  at  La  Porte,  Indiana,  where  he  continued  for  five 
years.  His  leisure  hours  were  spent  in  studying  natural 
sciences  and  comparative  anatomy,  which  developed  a  taste 
for  the  study  of  medicine. 

In  1879  he  entered  Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College, 
in  New  York  City,  where  he  remained  two  years,  gradu- 
ating in  1881,  after  which  he  served  six  months  in  a  branch 
of  Charity  Hospital,  and  the  succeeding  eighteen  months 
in  the  Woman's  Hospital.  Upon  leaving  the  Woman's 
Hospital,  in  the  spring  of  1883,  he  began  a  regular  practice 
in  New  York  City.    The  experience  gained  at  the  Woman's 


DR.  J.  RIDDLE   GOFFE. 


323 


Hospital  naturally  directed  his  professional  efforts  in  the 
line  of  gynaecology,  of  which  he  has  made  a  specialty. 

Dr.  Goffe  has  made  a  name  for  himself  among  his  medi- 
cal and  surgical  confreres  by  contributing  to  surgical  sci- 
ence an  original  method  for  disposing  of  the  pedicle  in 
supravaginal  hysterectomy  for  fibroid  tumors. 

This  operation  was  an  effort  to  perfect  a  satisfactory 
method  of  dropping  the  pedicle  into  the  pelvic  cavity, 
thus  disposing  of  it  according  to  the  method  adopted  in 
disposing  of  the  pedicle  after  ovariotomy.  It  was  first  de- 
vised and  employed  by  Dr.  Goffe  in  an  operation  which 
was  performed  by  him  May  29,  188S,  and  was  repeated  on 
three  other  cases  in  rather  rapid  succession,  all  of  which 
recovered.  It  was  presented  to  the  Obstetric  Section  of 
The  New  York  iVcademy  of  Medicine,  in  March,  1890,  and 
published  in  the  American  Journal  of  Obstetrics  and  Dis- 
eases of 'Women  and Children,  vol.  xxiii.  No.  4,  April,  1890. 
The  method  has  been  compared  to  that  of  Schroder,  but 
it  differs  from  Schroder's  in  two  or  three  important  par- 
ticulars, which  consist,  first,  in  large,  distinct  peritoneal 
flaps  with  which  the  stump  and  all  traumatic  tissue  involved 
in  the  operation  are  buried  beneath  the  peritoneum ;  sec- 
ond, the  method  of  controlling  hemorrhage  from  the  ute- 
rine artery  inside  of  these  flaps,  so  there  is  no  puncture  of 
the  peritoneum.  The  advantages  of  the  operation  over 
the  method  of  total  extirpation  are :  1st.  That  it  restores 
the  pelvic  organs  to  their  normal  relations  in  the  pelvis. 
2d.  It  requires  less  time.  3d.  It  is  more  easily  done  ;  and, 
4th,  the  local  after  treatment  is  nil. 

The  operation  has  been  adopted  by  many  operators, 
among  whom  may  be  mentioned  Dr.  Haywood  Smith  and 
Dr.  Treves,  of  London,  and  Dr.  Baer,  of  Philadelphia. 

Dr.  Goffe  has  since  reported  fifteen  cases  done  by  this 
operation  with  only  one  death. 

Dr.  Goffe' s  first  and  very  unexpected  attempt  at  surgical 
work  consisted  in  ligating,  in  case  of  hemorrhage,  the  deep 


j24  DR-  J-  RIDDLE  GOFFE. 

and  superficial  femoral  arteries.  This  occurred  while  he 
was  reading  medicine  during  his  final  year  as  Principal  of 
the  High  School.  It  so  happened  that  one  day  he  found 
upon  the  railroad  track,  along  which  a  freight-train  had 
just  passed,  a  man  who  had  evidently  just  been  run  over 
by  the  train.  The  left  leg  was  crushed  and  bruised  in 
several  places  and  the  bones  broken,  and  through  a  large 
wound  in  the  upper  part  of  the  thigh  the  deep  and  super- 
ficial femoral  arteries  could  be  seen  bleeding.  Hastily 
obtaining  a  piece  of  tarred  twine  from  the  baggage-room 
of  the  station  near  by,  he  threw  ligatures  around  the 
arteries  and  had  the  hemorrhage  entirely  under  control 
when  the  surgeon  arrived. 

Dr.  Goffe  has  written  many  papers  bearing  upon  the 
subject  of  gynaecology,  some  of  which  have  been  perma- 
nent and  lasting  contributions  to  the  advancement  of  that 
specialty.  Among  these  may  be  mentioned  his  article  on 
"The  Differentiation  of  Pelvic  Cellulitis,"  read  before  the 
Alumni  Association  of  the  Woman's  Hospital  in  1884,  in 
which  the  author  took  the  position  that,  for  all  practical 
purposes,  in  the  consideration  of  pelvic  inflammations  in 
women  the  all-important  feature  was  a  localized  peri- 
tonitis, and  not  a  cellulitis ;  in  other  words,  he  differen- 
tiated pelvic  cellulitis  out  of  existence.  Among  his  other 
papers  may  be  mentioned  "The  Treatment  of  Chronic 
Endometritis;"  "Re-opening  the  Abdomen  for  Acute 
Septic  Peritonitis,  following  Coeliotomy;"  "In  What 
Way  can  Uterine  Disease  be  Prevented?"  "Some  Prac- 
tical Points  in  Diagnosis — Normal  and  Abnormal  Posi- 
tion of  the  Uterus."  Also  his  article  on  "  Csesarean  Sec- 
tion, with  Report  of  a  Case,"  in  which  he  was  associated 
with  Dr.  A.  B.  Tucker;  and  "The  Development  of  the 
Intrapelvic  Treatment  of  the  Stump  after  Hysterectomy 
for  Fibroid  Tumors,  and  its  Present  Status." 

At  the  time  of  writing  Dr.  Goffe  is  First  Vice-President 
of  the  New  York  Obstetrical  Society,  and  holds  the  posi- 


DR.  J.  RIDDLE   GOFFE. 


3- 


tion  of  Visiting  Gynaecologist  to  the  New  York  City  Hos- 
pital and  Assistant  Gynaecologist  to  the  New  York  Skin 
and  Cancer  Hospital.  Upon  leaving  the  Woman's  Hos- 
pital as  interne,  Dr.  Gaffe  became  at  once  connected  with 
the  New  York  Polyclinic  Medical  School  and  Hospital, 
where  he  went  through  the  various  lower  grades  of  Assistant, 
Instructor,  Lecturer,  Adjunct  Professor,  and,  finally,  Pro- 
fessor of  Gynaecology,  to  which  position  he  was  appointed 
in  1894.  In  January,  1895,  ne  was  elected  Secretary  of 
the  Faculty  of  that  institution,  which  position  he  still 
holds. 

Dr.  Goffe's  early  experience  in  journalistic  work  de- 
veloped a  fluency  in  writing,  which  has  availed  him 
greatly  in  his  medical  career.  In  1892  he  became  con- 
nected with  the  American  Medico- Surgical  Bulletin,  and 
assumed  charge  of  the  departments  of  Gynaecology,  Ob- 
stetrics, and  Paediatrics,  which  he  conducted  for  two 
years.  This  position  he  resigned  to  become  editor  of 
the  New  York  Polyclinic,  which  position  he  also  held  for 
two  years.  In  January,  1896,  he  resigned  from  this  posi- 
tion and  assumed  the  editorship  of  the  Medical  News, 
which  at  that  date  removed  its  home  from  Philadelphia 
to  New  York ;  the  latter  position  he  still  holds. 

Dr.  Goffe  is  a  member  of  the  American  Gynaecological 
Society,  the  New  York  Obstetrical  Society,  The  New 
York  Academy  of  Medicine,  Medical  Society  of  the 
County  of  New  York,  etc.  He  also  is  a  member  of  the 
University  Club. 

In  1890  Dr.  Goffe  married  Miss  Eleanor  Taylor,  a  young 
lady  prominent  in  New  York  society  and  daughter  of  an 
old  Massachusetts  family. 


326 


DR.  MARGARET  A.   CLEAVES. 


MARGARET  A.  CLEAVES,  M.D., 

NEW   YORK,  N.  Y. 

Dr.  Margaret  Abigail  Cleaves  was  born  in  Louisa 
County,  Iowa.  Her  father  was  of  Dutch  and  English 
lineage  and  her  mother  of  Scotch  and  Irish,  but  by  birth 
both  were  Americans.  Her  father,  Dr.  John  Trow  Cleaves, 
was  born  in  Yarmouth,  Maine,  in  1813,  and  her  mother, 
Elizabeth  Stronach,  in  Baltimore,  Maryland,  in  1820.  In 
1843  tney  were  married,  in  Columbus  City,  Louisa  County, 
Iowa,  where  D.-.  Cleaves  practiced  medicine  until  his  death, 
in  October,  1863.  He  was  a  man  of  high  standing  in  his 
profession,  but  found  time  to  devote  to  public  affairs,  in 
which  he  took  a  deep  interest.  He  was  twice  elected  a 
member  of  the  Iowa  Legislature,  in  1852  and  1861. 

Margaret  was  the  third  of  seven  children.  Her  educa- 
tion was  obtained  in  the  public  schools  and  in  the  Iowa 
State  University,  but,  because  of  limited  means,  she  was 
unable  to  finish  the  collegiate  course  in  the  latter  institu- 
tion. She  began  teaching  before  her  sixteenth  birthday, 
and  alternately  attended  and  taught  school  for  several 
years  afterward. 

In  1868  the  family  moved  to  Davenport,  Iowa.  There 
Margaret  resolved  to  become  a  doctor  instead  of  continu- 
ing teaching,  and  entered  upon  the  study  of  medicine. 
She  feels  that  the  influence  which  determined  her  choice 
of  this  profession  was  that  of  her  father,  whose  intimate 
companion  she  was  from  her  earliest  recollection. 

In  1870  she  entered  the  Medical  Department  of  the 
State  University  of  Iowa,  and  in  1871  entered  the  office 
of  her  preceptor,  Dr.  W.  F.  Peck,  who  was  Dean  of  the 
Faculty  and  Professor  of  Surgery  in  the  University.  She 
accompanied  him  in  his  professional  work,  saw  all  sorts  of 
cases,  and  assisted  at  surgical  operations.     She  was  gradu- 


20^£ 


DR.  MARGARET  A.   CLEAVES. 


327 


ated  from  this  University  March  5,  1873,  standing  at  the 
head  of  her  class. 

Shortly  afterward  she  was  appointed  Second  Assistant 
Physician  in  the  State  Hospital  for  the  Insane,  Mount 
Pleasant,  Iowa,  where,  while  attending  with  great  earn- 
estness to  the  study  of  her  profession,  she  found  full  scope 
for  the  broad  charity  and  refined  humanity  of  her  nature. 
She  was  a  veritable  pioneer  in  such  work,  for,  up  to  that 
time,  only  one  other  woman  in  the  world  had  occupied 
the  position  of  physician  to  the  insane,  and  she  was  a 
contemporary.  Dr.  Cleaves  remained  in  the  hospital 
three  years,  and  then  resigned  to  commence  private  prac- 
tice in  Davenport.  She  was  subsequently  appointed  one 
of  the  trustees  of  the  asylum.  She  testified  as  insanity 
expert  in  cases  of  murder  and  forgery  in  the  Iowa  courts 
in  1876  and  1877.  It  has  been  said  that  she  has  done 
more  to  influence  having  women  appointed  as  physicians 
to  insane  hospitals  than  any  other  person. 

In  1878  she  was  President  of  the  Alumni  Association  of 
the  Medical  Department  of  the  State  University  of  Iowa. 

While  practicing  medicine  in  Davenport  she  became  a 
member  of  the  Scott  County  Medical  Society,  being  the 
second  woman  admitted  to  that  body,  and  the  first  to  be  an 
active  member.  For  several  years  she  was  its  Secretary.  She 
also  joined  the  Iowa  State  Medical  Society,  to  which  she  was 
again  the  second  woman  to  gain  admission,  and  the  first 
to  become  an  active  member,  and  was  the  first  woman 
admitted  to  the  Iowa  and  Illinois  Central  District  Medi- 
cal Association.  While  residing  in  Davenport  she  was  an 
active  member  of  the  Davenport  Academy  of  Sciences. 

In  1879  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Iowa  State  Hospi- 
tal for  the  Insane  choose  her  their  delegate  to  the  National 
Conference  of  Charities,  which  that  year  met  at  Chicago. 
In  that  conference  she  read  a  paper  on  "The  Medical 
and  Moral  Care  of  Female  Patients  in  Hospitals  for  the 
Insane."       It    attracted    widespread    attention    and   was 


328 


DR.  MARGARET  A.   CLEAVES; 


printed  in  a  volume — Lunacy  in  Many  Lands — which  was 
published  by  the  Government  of  New  South  Wales.  In 
June,  1880,  she  was  appointed  by  the  Governor  of  Iowa 
a  State  Delegate  to  the  National  Conference  of  Charities 
in  Cleveland,  Ohio,  and  thus  the  distinction  was  conferred 
upon  her  of  being  the  first  female  delegate  from  Iowa  to 
that  body.  She  reported  for  the  State  to  the  conference, 
and  her  report  was  subsequently  incorporated  in  the  Gov- 
ernor's Annual  Message. 

That  same  year  she  was  appointed  Physician-in-Chief  in 
the  Female  Department  of  the  Pennsylvania  State  Lunatic 
Hospital,  in  Harrisburg,  another  position  never  before  held 
by  a  woman.  During  this  time  she  was  a  member  of  the 
Dauphin  County  Medical  Society  and  the  Medical  Society 
of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania.  In  1881  she  was  sent  as  a 
delegate  to  the  annual  meeting  of  the  National  Association 
of  Medical  Superintendents  for  Asylums  for  the  Insane  by 
the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Pennsylvania  State  Lunatic 
Hospital,  and  also  by  the  same  Board  to  the  annual  meet- 
ing of  the  National  Conference  of  Charities  at  Boston. 
After  three  years  of  hard  work  Dr.  Cleaves  was  compelled, 
by  failing  health,  to  resign  her  position.  Her  annual 
reports  will  be  found  in  the  published  reports  of  the 
Hospital. 

She  went  abroad  in  1883,  remaining  nearly  two  years, 
visiting  insane  hospitals  in  Scotland,  England,  France, 
Italy,  Germany,  Austria,  Switzerland,  and  Belgium,  every- 
where receiving  flattering  courtesies  from  men  of  recog- 
nized eminence  in  the  treatment  of  insanity.  She  witnessed 
operations  in  general  hospitals  in  England,  France,  and 
Germany,  and  in  Paris  was  for  several  months  a  regular 
attendant  at  lectures  and  clinics. 

After  returning  to  the  United  States  she  opened  in  Des 
Moines,  Iowa,  a  private  home  for  the  treatment  of  patients, 
conducting  also  an  office  practice  in  connection  with  her 
work.      In  March,   1885,  she  was  appointed  one  of  the 


DR.  MARGARET  A.   CLEAVES. 


329 


Examining  Committee  of  the  Medical  Department  of  the 
State  University  of  Iowa.  It  was  the  first  honor  of  that 
kind  bestowed  on  a  woman  by  any  standard  medical  school 
in  the  United  States.  In  July,  1886,  she  was  sent  as  a 
State  delegate  to  the  annual  meeting  of  the  National  Con- 
ference of  Charities,  which  was  held  in  St.  Paul,  Minn. 
During  her  residence  in  Des  Moines  she  was  an  active 
member  of  the  Polk  County  Medical  Society,  the  Medical 
Society  of  the  Missouri  Valley,  and  of  the  Iowa  State 
Medical  Society.  Before  all  these  societies  she  read  papers, 
and  served  the  last-named  body  as  Chairman  of  Obstetrics 
and  Gynaecology  in  1889,  being  the  only  woman  in  this 
Society  who  had  ever  received  such  an  appointment  up  to 
that  time. 

Her  work  was  not  confined  to  medicine  alone.  She 
took  a  deep  interest  in  whatever  pertained  to  the  advance- 
ment of  woman,  and  in  1880  became  a  member  of  the 
Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Women.  She  organ- 
ized the  Des  Moines  Woman's  Club  in  1885,  and  was  its 
first  President,  and  in  the  same  year  assisted  in  organizing 
the  Marshalltown  Woman's  Club,  of  which  she  is  now  an 
honorary  member. 

Becoming  interested  in  electro-therapeutics  she  went  to 
New  York  in  1887,  and  to  Paris  to  Apostoli  in  1888,  to 
prosecute  her  investigations.  After  her  return  she  con- 
tinued to  practice  in  Des  Moines,  but  in  1890  retired  from 
that  field  and  opened  an  office  in  New  York. 

Dr.  Margaret  A.  Cleaves  has  written  various  papers 
which  have  been  read  before  numerous  societies.  Many 
have  been  published,  both  in  Europe  and  America,  and 
all  of  them  are  distinguished  by  painstaking  research, 
clearness  of  statement,  and  logical  reasoning.  Among 
them  are:  "Mental  Responsibility  in  the  Commission  of 
Crime,"  Scott  County  Medical  Society,  Davenport,  Iowa, 
1876.  "  Insanity  a  Physical  Disease,  and  the  Necessity  for 
its  Early  Recognition  by  the  General  Physician,"  Ibid., 


330 


DR.  MARGARET  A.   CLEAVES. 


1877.  "Medical  and  Moral  Care  of  the  Female  Patient 
in  the  Hospitals  for  the  Insane,"  Transactions  National 
Conference  of  Charities,  Chicago,  June,  1879.  "  Nervous 
and  Mental  Phenomena  Associated  with  Pelvic  Disease," 
Iowa  State  Medical  Society,  1878 ;  Transactio?is  of  the  Iowa 
Medical  Society,  1879.  "Neurasthenia  and  its  Relation 
to  Diseases  of  Women,"  Ibid.,  1880.  "Treatment  of 
Uterine  Fibroids  by  Electrolysis,"  Ibid.,  1887.  "Women's 
Dress;  Its  Influence  on  the  Body,"  Medical  Society  of  the 
Missouri  Valley ;  Omaha  Clinic,  1888.  "  \resical  Hemor- 
rhage in  Pregnancy,  with  Report  of  a  Case, ' '  Kings  County 
Medical  Association,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. ;  New  York  Medical 
Record,  1890.  '/The  Colony  of  Insane  at  Gheel,"  Belgium; 
Medico-Legal  Society,  1891  ;  Journal  of  Mental  Sciences, 
London,  England,  April,  189 1.  "The  Chemistry  of  Food 
and  Nutrition,"  Brooklyn  Woman's  Club.  "  The  Franklinic 
Current  in  the  Treatment  of  Disease,"  Alumni  Association 
of  The  Woman's  Medical  College  of  the  New  York  In- 
firmary, 1892.  "Franklinization  in  Mental  Diseases," 
Journal  of  Nervous  and  Mental  Disease,  March  1,  1892. 
"The  Use  of  the  Galvanic  Current  in  Articular  Inflam- 
matory Exudations,"  American  Electro-Therapeutic  Asso- 
ciation, Philadelphia,  September  9,  1892;  Times  and  Regis- 
ter, Philadelphia,  1892.  "  Metallic  Electrolysis,"  American 
Electro-Therapeutic  Association,  Chicago,  September, 
1893;  Journal  of  the  American  Medical  Association,  Revue 
Internationale  d'  Electrotherapie,  and  in  Transactions  of 
the  American  Electro-Therapeutic  Association,  1893.  "The 
Sinusoidal  Current  and  its  Use,"  New  York  Electro- 
Therapeutic  Society,  1893.  "  A  New  Electrode  for  Hydro- 
electric Applications  of  the  Continuous  Current,"  New  York 
ATedical  Record,  1S94;  Revue  Internationale  d* Electro- 
therapie ;  Archives  d'  Electricite,  Medic  ale,  Experimentales 
et  Clinique,  1894.  "  Special  Hydro-electric  Applications," 
American  Electro-Therapeutic  Association,  New  York, 
September,  1S94,  Journal  of  the  American  Medical  Asso- 


DR.  MARGARET  A.  CLEAVES.  33 1 

ciation,  1894;  and  in  Transactions  of  the  American  Electro- 
Therapeutic  Association,  1894.  "Means  of  Controlling 
the  So-called  Static  Induced,"  Ibid.,  and  Archives  oV Elec- 
tricile,  Medicate,  Exp'erimentales  et  Cliniques.  "Electric 
Light  as  a  Diagnostic  and  Therapeutic  Agent,"  presented 
to  the  American  Electro-Therapeutic  Association,  New 
York,  September,  1894;  Ibid.  "Franklinization  as  a 
Therapeutic  Measure  in  Neurasthenia,"  American  Medical 
Association,  Atlanta,  1896  ;  Journal  of  the  American  Med- 
ical Association,  1896.  "The  Expenditure  of  Electrical 
Energy,"  American  Electro-Therapeutic  Association,  Bos- 
ton; Transactions  of  the  American  Electro -Therapeutic 
Association,  1896. 

In  1 891-189 2  Dr.  Cleaves  edited  the  Asylum  Notes  for 
the  Journal  of  Nervous  and  Mental  Disease. 

Dr.  Cleaves  is  a  Fellow  of  the  Medical  Society  of  the 
County  of  New  York,  The  New  York  Academy  of  Med- 
icine, American  Medical  Association,  and  American 
Electro-Therapeutic  Association,  Associate  Member  of 
the  Alumnae  Association  of  The  Women's  Medical  College 
of  the  New  York  Infirmary,  Societe  Francaise  d'Electro- 
therapie,  New  York  Electrical  Society,  and  American 
Authors'  Guild. 

In  October,  1892,  she  was  unanimously  elected  Secre- 
tary of  the  American  Electro-Therapeutic  Association, 
and  again  appeared  as  a  pioneer,  which  she  essentially  has 
been  in  the  avenues  now  open  to  women.  She  served  the 
Association  in  this  capacity  for  two  years. 

She  was  Instructor  in  Electro-therapeutics  at  the  Post- 
Graduate  Medical  School  for  three  years,  and  for  five  years 
past  has  lectured  on  this  subject,  both  at  the  Post-Graduate 
Medical  School  and  at  her  own  clinic,  known  as  the  New 
York  Electro-Therapeutic  Clinic,  Laboratory,  and  Dis- 
pensary, and  to  physicians  from  every  part  of  the  United 
States,  both  men  and  women,  largely  the  former. 

Since  1892  she  has  held  the  position  of  Chairman  of  the 


332 


DR.  MARGARET  A.    CLEAVES. 


Committee  on  Standard  Meters  for  the  American  Electro 
Therapeutic  Association,  and  has  also  served  as  a  member 
of  the  Committee  on  Static  Machines  and  Condensers, 
and  on  the  Committee  on  Electric  Light  Apparatus  for 
Diagnosis  and  Therapy. 

In  April,  1S95,  sne  founded  the  New  York  Electro- 
Therapeutic  Clinic,  Laboratory,  and  Dispensary,  which 
was  opened  for  work  April  6,  1895.  This  was  the  first 
clinic  devoted  exclusively  to  teaching  electro-therapeutics. 
The  double  purpose  of  the  clinic  is  to  aid  in  the  advance 
of  electro-therapeutics  by  original  research,  and  interest- 
ing results  have  been  obtained  in  defining  the  value  of 
negative  insulation  for  static  application,  and  instructing 
practitioners  and  students  of  medicine  in  electro-therapeu- 
tics and  the  electrical  treatment  of  the  poor.  The  clinic 
is  thoroughly  equipped  with  all  the  best  modern  electrical 
apparatus  used  in  medicine. 

Dr.  Cleaves' s  work,  almost  her  entire  student  and  pro- 
fessional life,  has  been  among  and  with  men,  and  she 
occupies  the  unusual  position  of  a  woman  who  is  sought 
after  as  a  teacher  by  men  in  the  profession  from  all  over 
the  United  States.  For  the  five  years  in  which  she  has 
taught  electro-therapeutics  the  majority  of  her  pupils  have 
been  men.  In  no  way  has  Dr.  Cleaves  ever  been  made 
to  feel  that  there  was  anything  unusual  in  her  position, 
the  relation  between  her  and  her  students  being  one  of 
bon  camaraderie.  She  has  been  dependent  upon  herself 
throughout  her  entire  career. 

Though  a  very  busy  woman  and  her  chosen  fields  of 
labor  and  study  have  taken  her  far  away  from  the  paths 
followed  by  most  women,  she  has  sacrificed  none  of  those 
sweet,  helpful,  and  peculiarly  womanly  characteristics 
which  endear  her  to  her  friends.  She  is  a  woman  who 
combines  in  a  most  felicitous  way  gentleness  of  speech 
and  manner,  with  firmness  of  character.  She  has  keen 
insight  and  quick  sympathies,  yet  cool  judgment. 


X  4 


DR.    T.    G.   RICHARDSON. 


333 


PROF.  T.  G.  RICHARDSON,  M.D., 

LATE  DEAN  OF  THE  TULANE  UNIVERSITY,  NEW  ORLEANS,  LA. 

On  May  26,  1892,  at  8.30  p.m.,  the  spirit  of  a  revered 
teacher  and  valued  citizen  passed  away  to  its  rest.  While 
his  death  was  not  a  surprise  to  those  who  knew  of  his  long 
and  painful  illness,  still  it  came  as  a  shock  to  the  many 
who  owed  a  large  part  of  their  medical  training  to  Dr. 
Richardson. 

Dr.  Richardson  was  born  at  Lexington,  Ky.,  January 
3,  1827,  and  was  the  son  of  William  Richardson,  for  many 
years  before  his  death  cashier  of  the  Northern  Bank  of 
Kentucky,  Louisville.  His  mother  was  Synia  Higgins, 
whose  father  was  a  contemporary  and  personal  friend  of 
Daniel  Boone. 

In  1837  he  removed  with  his  parents  to  Louisville,  and 
in  1845  matriculated  in  the  Medical  Department  of  the 
University  of  Louisville.  The  same  year  he  entered  the 
office  of  Professor  S.  D.  Gross,  M.D.,  as  a  private  pupil, 
having  as  a  companion  Dr.  Nathan  Bozeman,  now  of 
New  York,  who  was  also  his  classmate  at  the  University. 
In  1847  ne  was  appointed  resident  student  of  the  Louis- 
ville Marine  Hospital.  He  graduated  at  the  University 
in  the  spring  of  1848,  and  immediately  afterward  was 
appointed  by  the  Faculty  demonstrator  of  anatomy,  which 
position  he  filled  for  eight  years.  During  a  large  portion 
of  this  period  he  was  engaged  in  anatomical  investigations, 
and  in  1853  published  a  large  volume,  entitled  Eleme?its 
of  Human  Anatomy,  besides  occasional  contributions  to 
the  Western  Journal  of  Medicine.     This  medical  periodical 


334 


DR.   T.   G.  RICHARDSOX, 


being  suspended  in  1855,  he  founded  the  Louisville 
Review  in  connection  with  Professor  Gross. 

Resigning  the  position  of  demonstrator  of  anatomy  at 
Louisville,  in  1856,  he  was  at  once  offered  the  chair  of 
anatomy  in  the  New  York  Medical  College,  that  of  surgery 
in  the  Kentucky  School  of  Medicine,  and  that  of  anatomy 
in  the  Medical  Department  of  the  Pennsylvania  College, 
at  Philadelphia.  He  decided  to  accept  the  latter,  and  re- 
moved to  Philadelphia  in  the  fall  of  1856.  While  there 
he  established,  in  conjunction  with  Professor  Gross,  who 
had  accepted  the  chair  of  surgery  in  the  Jefferson  Medical 
College,  the  North  American  Medico-  Chirurgicai  Review, 
and  continued  to  act  as  junior  editor  until  its  suspension, 
in  1862,  although  he  had  in  the  meantime  removed  to 
another  field  of  duty.  While  at  the  Pennsylvania  Medical 
College  he  was  associated  with  Professors  Alfred  Stille, 
Francis  Gurney  Smith,  and  other  gentlemen  well  known 
to  the  profession  throughout  the  United  States  as  teachers 
and  authors. 

In  1858  he  was  invited  to  the  chair  of  anatomy  in  the 
medical  department  of  the  University  of  Louisiana,  to 
succeed  Prof.  Nott,  and  removed  to  New  Orleans  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  year.  This  school  was  at  that  time  one 
of  the  largest  in  the  country,  and,  with  such  distinguished 
professors  as  the  late  Warren  Stone,  M.D.,  Thomas  Hunt, 
M.D.,  and  others  of  like  distinction,  attracted  annually 
more  than  four  hundred  students.  He  was  at  the  same  time 
appointed  one  of  the  attending  surgeons  to  the  Charity 
Hospital,  and  lectured  upon  clinical  surgery  in  addition 
to  his  didactic  lectures  upon  anatomy  in  the  medical 
college1.  He  was  the  first  to  perform  successfully  the 
operation  of  vesico- vaginal  fistula,  after  the  method  of  Dr. 
Nathan  Bozeman,  which  had  then  but  recently  been  intro- 
duced to  the  profession.  He  soon  became  engaged  in  a 
large  surgical  practice,  which  was  only  interrupted  by  the 
outbreak  of  the  civil  war. 


DR.   T.    G.  RICHARDSON.  ,35 

Leaving  New  Orleans  before  its  capture  by  the  Federal 
forces,  in  1862,  he  joined  the  Confederate  Army  of  Ten- 
nessee, of  which  he  was  made  practically,  although  not 
nominally,  assistant  medical  director,  and  subsequently 
medical  inspector  on  the  staff  of  Major  General  Braxton 
Bragg.  He  was  present  on  the  field  at  the  battles  of 
Murfreesboro,  Chickamauga,  and  Missionary  Ridge,  in 
the  second  of  which  it  became  his  melancholy  duty  to 
amputate  the  thigh  of  the  gallant  Major-General  Hood. 
He  accompanied  General  Bragg,  after  the  retirement  of 
that  distinguished  officer  from  the  Army  of  Tennessee,  to 
Richmond,  where  he  continued  his  duties  as  medical  in- 
spector during  the  summer  of  1864,  and  by  request  of  the 
surgeon  in  charge,  Dr.  Hancock,  and  the  attending  sur- 
geons, Drs.  Cabell,  Hoyt,  Tom,  and  Wellford,  he  per- 
formed a  large  part  of  the  capital  operations  at  the  immense 
hospital  after  the  battles  of  Rapidan,  Spottsylvania  Court 
House,  and  Cold  Harbor.  He  subsequently  accompanied 
General  Bragg  to  North  Carolina  as  medical  director  of 
that  department,  and  was  present  on  the  field  at  the  battle 
of  Averysboro,  and  also  that  of  Bentonville,  where  a  mere 
handful  of  Confederates,  under  General  J.  E  Johnson, 
made  their  last  unsuccessful  fight. 

Still  adhering  to  the  fortunes  of  his  friend  and  chief, 
General  Bragg,  he  joined  the  retreating  column  of  govern- 
ment officials,  with  President  Davis  at  its  head,  and  con- 
tinued with  them  until  the  formal  dissolution  of  the  Con- 
federate Cabinet,  at  Washington,  Ga.,  and  the  dispersion 
of  its  members. 

He  returned  to  New  Orleans  in  the  succeeding  fall,  and 
resumed  his  position  in  the  University  of  Louisiana,  and 
was  immediately  chosen  Dean  of  the  Medical  Faculty.  In 
1873,  upon  the  resignation  of  Professor  Warren  Stone 
from  the  chair  of  surgery,  he  became  his  successor,  and  his 
ability  as  a  director  and  teacher  aided  in  elevating  the 
college  to  its  present  high  standing. 


336 


DR.   T.   G.  RICHARDSON. 


In  1877  he  was  elected  president  of  the  American 
Medical  Association,  at  its  annual  meeting  in  Chicago, 
and  presided  at  the  subsequent  meeting  in  Buffalo, 
N.  Y. 

For  a  number  of  years  he  devoted  the  summer  months 
to  travel.  He  travelled  over  all  the  ground  usually  cov- 
ered by  tourists,  and  besides  a  large  amount  of  territory 
not  often  visited  by  them.  He  crossed  the  Atlantic  many 
times ;  spent  two  summers  in  Mexico  ;  ascended  the  Ama- 
zon ;  scaled  the  Andes ;  visited  the  Sandwich  Islands,  and 
went  up  and  down  his  own  country  until  no  place  of  im- 
portance had  been  left  unseen.  In  all  of  his  journeyings 
he  was  accompanied  by  his  devoted  wife  ;  she  was  one  of 
the  three  ladies  who  first  looked  down  into  the  crater  of 
Popocatapetl. 

In  addition  to  the  literary  productions  mentioned,  Dr. 
Richardson  contributed  a  number  of  articles  to  the  New 
Orleans  Medical  and  Surgical  Journal  and  the  Medical 
News  and  Library  of  Philadelphia.  He  also  wrote  a  life 
of  the  distinguished  anatomist  and  naturalist,  Professor 
John  D.  Godman.  He  was  a  corresponding  member  of 
the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  of  Philadelphia 
and  of  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences,  Philadelphia, 
and  an  active  member  of  the  Louisiana  State  and  the 
Orleans  Parish  Medical  Society  (representative  men  of  the 
South). 

For  many  years  Professor  Richardson  was  a  member  and 
elder  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  counting  its  pastor, 
Dr.  B.  M.  Palmer,  among  his  most  valued  friends. 

Dr.  Richardson  was  married  twice.  His  first  wife  was 
the  daughter  of  Professor  Charles  W.  Short,  M.D.,  of 
Kentucky.  Three  children  blessed  this  marriage.  A  tragic 
fate  overtook  the  mother  and  children.  They  were  on  a 
steamboat  coming  down  the  Mississippi  to  join  him;  the 
boat  sank,  and  among  the  victims  were  Dr.  Richardson's 
wife  and  children. 


DR.   T.   G.  RICHARDSON. 


337 


His  second  wife  was  Miss  Ida  Slocomb,  daughter  of 
Mrs.  Cora  A.  Slocomb,  who  survives  him. 

As  an  administrator  of  the  Tulane  University,  from  its 
origin  in  1884,  he  was  zealous  in  behalf  of  the  Medical 
Department,  and  secured  for  it  important  benefits.  He 
never  failed  to  encourage  and  aid  his  successor  in  every- 
thing calculated  to  promote  the  welfare  of  the  college ; 
and  the  very  last  official  letter,  written  two  years  after  his 
retirement  from  active  service,  to  the  Dean  of  the  Medical 
Department,  proved  conclusively  his  unalterable  devotion 
to  his  beloved  college  and  his  judicious  and  generous  appre- 
ciation of  its  needs.  In  this  memorable  letter  of  March  3, 
1891,  Dr.  Richardson  wrote:  "I  am  authorized  by  Mrs. 
Richardson  to  place  at  your  disposal  $50,000  for  the  erec- 
tion of  a  building  for  laboratories  of  chemistry,  physiology, 
pathological  anatomy,  microscopy,  etc.,  and  for  suitable 
anatomical  rooms,  provided  that  for  this  purpose  the  Fac- 
ulty can  obtain  from  the  administrators  of  the  Tulane 
University  of  Louisiana  either  of  the  two  lots  contiguous 
to  the  building  of  the  Medical  Department ;  work  upon 
the  new  building  to  be  begun  within  a  year  of  this 
date." 

The  Medical  Faculty  replied,  March  6,  1891,  as  fol- 
lows :  "The  generous  and  philanthropic  offer  of  Mrs. 
Richardson  to  contribute  $50,000  for  the  building  of  labor- 
atories, on  which  now  depend  the  future  progress  and 
prosperity  of  the  Medical  Department,  is  most  gratefully 
accepted.  In  addition  to  the  respect,  affection,  and  ad- 
miration that  her  gentle  and  noble  character  arouses  in  all 
who  know  her,  Mrs.  Richardson  has  by  this  act  deserved 
the  profound  and  lasting  gratitude  of  all  who  have  at  heart 
the  welfare  of  New  Orleans,  the  relief  of  human  suffering, 
and  the  gratitude  especially  of  those  on  whom  is  imposed 
the  duty  of  promoting  the  prosperity  of  the  Medical 
Department. 

"Professor  T.    G.    Richardson,   M.D.,   for  very  many 


333 


DR.   T.   G.  RICHARDSOX. 


years  our  honored  colleague  and  Dean,  is  earnestly  solic- 
ited to  become  the  chief  counsellor  and  agent  of  the  Fac- 
ulty in  everything  that  may  concern  the  expenditure  of 
this  gift,  to  the  end  that  every  dollar  may  be  disbursed 
prudently  and  wisely  for  the  greatest  benefit  of  the  Med- 
ical Department,  of  the  public,  and  to  the  perfect  satis- 
faction of  the  donor." 

Difficulties  arose  as  to  securing  either  of  the  lots  con- 
tiguous to  the  old  building  ;  the  Faculty  did  not  desire 
the  responsibility  of  taking  charge  of  the  donation,  and 
for  other  reasons  a  letter  was  addressed,  May  9,  1891,  to 
United  States  Senator  R.  L.  Gibson,  President  of  the 
Board  of  Administrators,  signed  "  Ida  A.  Richardson,  ap- 
proved T.  G.  Richardson,"  which  was  briefly  as  follows: 
"If  the  administrators  will  furnish  a  suitable  site  for  a 
medical  college  I  will  contribute  $100,000  toward  the 
erection  of  the  building,  to  be  paid  from  time  to  time  as 
the  work  progresses."  The  administrators  accepted  this 
donation,  and  provided,  at  an  expense  of  535»°o°,  an 
admirable  site. 

Such  is  a  brief  history  of  the  inception  of  the  new  col- 
lege building,  due  to  the  conjoint  liberality  of  T.  G.  Rich- 
ardson and  his  wife,  Ida  A.  Slocomb.  Their  timely  gift 
will  prove  an  incalculable  advantage  to  the  college,  to 
many  generations  of  its  students,  and  to  the  cause  of  med- 
ical education,  on  which  depend  those  inestimable  bless- 
ings to  the  people,  the  prevention  and  cure  of  disease. 
Radiating  from  our  city,  these  blessings  will  be  disseminated 
far  and  wide  over  our  land,  and  will  be  shared  by  count- 
less sufferers — by  the  rich  and  the  blest,  and  yet  even  more 
by  the  destitute  and  the  wretched.  Our  new  building  will 
stand  an  enduring  monument  not  only  to  the  generosity 
and  worth  of  the  donors,  but  also  to  their  exceptionally 
enlightened  appreciation  of  the  value  of  medical  knowl- 
edge to  the  welfare  of  the  people  ;  and  this  building  will 
serve  as  a  memorial  to  bind  in  lasting  union  two  names 


DR.   T.   G.  RICHARDSON. 


339 


which  were  united  for  nearly  twenty-five  years  (November 
12,  1868,  to  May  26,  1892,)  in  faithful  and  devoted 
love. 

Dr.  Richardson's  influence  in  behalf  of  the  college  did 
not  end  with  his  life.  Through  him  exceptionally  appre- 
ciating the  needs  of  medical  education,  and  in  loving 
remembrance  of  him,  Mrs.  Ida  A.  Richardson  has  added 
very  largely  to  the  original  gift  in  order  that  everything 
lacking  and  indispensable  to  insure  the  usefulness  of  the 
new  building  may  be  supplied. 

Dr.  Richardson  added  honor  to  his  profession  by  con- 
tributing liberally  to  every  good  cause,  not  only  money, 
but  also  the  great  influence  which  high  character  and  great 
ability  gave  him.  He  was  one  of  the  largest  contributors 
toward  building  the  monument  erected  at  Danville,  Ky., 
to  the  memory  of  Ephraim  McDowell,  M.D.  Though 
racked  by  agonizing  pain,  and  fully  conscious  that  death 
was  near  at  hand,  the  anti-lottery  cause,  involved  in 
doubtful  conflict,  had  no  friend,  in  like  pitiable  condition, 
so  resolute  and  so  valuable,  and  none  less  bitter  to 
opponents. 

Hand-in-hand  with  his  beloved  and  honored  wife,  he 
crowned  these  numerous  and  invaluable  services  to  his 
contemporaries,  within  and  without  the  medical  profession, 
by  contributing  with  a  liberality,  unexampled  in  the 
South,  to  the  progress  of  medical  education,  for  the 
benefit  of  generations  to  live  after  him. 

Surely  if  any  man,  then  this  man  "  wrought  his  life  in 
noble  deeds";  the  medical  profession  profited  by  his 
labors,  and  mankind  is  better  for  his  living.  He  taught 
well  by  precept,  yet  better  still  by  example,  and  he  has 
strengthened  many  to  serve  profession  and  humanity  less 
selfishly.  During  his  professional  life  there  have  lived 
many  thousands  of  physicians,  and  of  all  these  thousands 
I  know  not  one  throughout  the  United  States  who  better 
served,  and  not  one  throughout  the  extended  length  and 


340 


DR.   T.   G.  RICHARDSON. 


breadth  of  the    South  who  as  well  served  the    medical 
profession  as  did  Dr.  Richardson. 

He  possessed  superior  characteristics,  which,  during  the 
intimacy  of  long  friendship,  specially  attracted  and  im- 
pressed me.  He  had  a  profound  and  active  mind,  eager 
to  the  last  for  new  knowledge,  and  earnest  in  search  of 
truth,  however  unpalatable  it  might  prove.  Hence  he 
was  always  a  student  and  in  step  with  the  onward  march 
of  medical  science.  He  regarded  every  subject  broadly 
and  from  every  side,  and  often  surprised  me  by  his 
thorough  knowledge  and  appreciation  of  the  arguments 
of  those  whose  conclusions  he  opposed.  The  breadth  of 
his  mind  and  the  extent  of  his  knowledge,  both  of  science 
and  of  human  nature,  rendered  him  tolerant  of  opinions 
opposed  to  his  own,  and  charitable  to  human  frailties. 

He  possessed  pre-eminently  one  of  the  distinguishing 
marks  of  great  ability,  not  only  the  mastery  of  many 
details,  but  a  profound  comprehension  of  the  elementary 
principles  which  bind  details  together  and  on  which  these 
are  founded. 

He  was  distinguished  not  only  for  physical,  but  also  for 
great  moral  courage.  Actuated  by  a  high  sense  of  duty, 
he  more  than  fulfilled  whatever  he  promised,  and  was 
exceptionally  punctual  and  efficient.  He  never  subordi- 
nated official  duty  to  personal  convenience  or  private 
obligations,  and  used  office  and  its  influence  not  for  self, 
but  for  the  general  welfare. 

He  abhorred  hypocrisy,  falsehood,  prevarication,  scan- 
dal, and  gossip  with  a  vehemence  proportionate,  as  is 
usual,  to  nobility  of  soul.  Profanity,  obscenity,  vulgar 
wit  met  with  no  assumption  of  "  I  am  holier  than  thou," 
but  were  ignored  as  if  unheard. 

Beneath  a  calm^  manner  and  habitual  reserve  in  the 
expression  of  his  emotions,  there  throbbed  a  loving  and  a 
loyal  heart.  In  his  friendships  he  manifested  the  unusual 
combination  of  saying  little  but  doing  much,  so  that  his 


DR.  JOSEPH  EASTMAN.  34  I 

deeds  in  behalf  of  friends  who  needed  his  services  always 
surpassed  their  expectations,  and  the  longer  he  was  known 
the  greater  was  the  trust  reposed  in  him  and  the  higher 
the  value  attached  to  his  friendship. 

[The  foregoing  sketch  of  Professor  T.  G.  Richardson 
has,  by  permission,  been  made  chiefly  of  extracts  from  the 
June,  1892,  number  of  the  New  Orleans  Medical  and 
Surgical  Journal,  and  from  the  Memorial  Address  on  the 
professional  services  of  T.  G  Richardson,  M.D.,  delivered 
April  5,  1893,  by  Professor  Stanford  E.  Chaille,  A.M., 
M.D.,  Dean  of  the  Medical  Department,  Tulane  University, 
New  Orleans,  La. — The  Author.] 


JOSEPH    EASTMAN,   M.D.,   LL.D., 

PRESIDENT    OF   THE   CENTRAL    COLLEGE   OF  PHYSICIANS  AND 
SURGEONS,    INDIANAPOLIS,    IND. 

Dr.  Joseph  Eastman,  of  Indianapolis,  Ind.,  was  born  in 
the  Bleecker  Mountains  in  Fulton  Co.,  N.  Y. ,  in  1842. 
He  is  the  son  of  Rilus  Eastman,  who  was  born  in  Amherst, 
Mass.,  his  ancestors  being  among  the  earliest  settlers  in 
New  England.  The  Doctor's  mother's  name  was  Catherine 
Jipson.     She  was  of  German  descent. 

Dr.  Eastman's  early  education  was  confined  to  winter 
schools  and  night  study ;  on  reaching  the  age  of  eighteen 
he  became  a  proficient  blacksmith,  having  worked  three 
years  at  that  trade. 

At  the  breaking  out  of  the  Civil  War,  early  in  1861,  he 
enlisted  as  a  volunteer  in  the  77th  N.  Y.;  went  to  the  front 
and  took  part  in  four  battles.  After  the  battle  of  Williams- 
burg he  became  a  victim  of  fever,  and  was  sent  to  Mt. 
Pleasant  Hospital,  Washington,  D.  C.  After  his  recovery, 
Dr.  Charles  A.  McCall  and  Dr.  Harrison  Allen  (both  now 
in  Philadelphia)  placed  him  on  medical  duty  in  that  hos- 


342  DR-  JOSEPH  EASTMAN. 

pital,  later  having  him  discharged  from  his  regiment  and 
appointed  Hospital  Steward  in  the  U.  S.  Army.  Through 
the  courtesy  of  these  doctors  he  was  permitted  to  attend 
three  courses  of  medical  lectures  in  the  University  of 
Georgetown,  where  he  was  graduated  in  1865.  He  then 
passed  the  army  examination  and  was  commissioned 
Assistant  Surgeon  to  the  United  States  Volunteers,  and 
served  in  that  capacity  until  May,  1866,  when  he  was 
mustered  out  of  service  at  Nashville,  Tenn. 

On  his  way  home  from  the  army  he  stopped  at  Indian- 
apolis, and  located  in  a  country  village  a  few  miles  west 
of  the  city,  where  he  followed  the  general  practice  of  medi- 
cine and  surgery  for  a  period  of  nine  years.  In  1868  he 
married  a  daughter  of  Thomas  Barker,  of  Indianapolis.  In 
1870-71  he  attended  a  course  of  lectures  in  the  Bellevue 
Hospital  Medical  College,  where  he  was  again  graduated 
in  1871.  At  the  solicitation  of  Drs.  Parvin  and  Walker 
he  accepted  the  position  of  Demonstrator  of  Anatomy  in 
the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  in  Indianapolis, 
locating  in  that  city  in  November,  1875.  Soon  after  he 
was  appointed  Consulting  Surgeon  to  the  City  Hospital, 
a  position  which  he  held  for  nine  years,  delivering  lec- 
tures on  Clinical  Surgery  during  that  time.  During  this 
same  period  he  assisted  Professor  Parvin,  now  of  Phila- 
delphia, in  most  of  his  gynecological  operations.  In  1879 
Dr.  Eastman  was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  Central 
College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  of  Indianapolis,  ac- 
cepting the  Chair  of  Anatomy  and  Clinical  Surgery.  After 
having  taught  anatomy  in  the  two  colleges  for  seven  ses- 
sions a  special  chair  was  established  in  the  last-named 
institution,  that  of  Diseases  of  Women  and  Abdominal 
Surgery,  which  he  has  held  ever  since.  For  the  last  seven 
years  he  has  been  President  of  this  college. 

Since  1886  Dr.  Eastman  has  limited  his  practice  abso- 
lutely to  diseases  of  women  and  abdominal  surgery.  Dur- 
ing this  period  he  has  opened  the  abdominal  cavity  over 


DR.  JOSEPH  EASTMAN. 


343 


500  times  and  performed  hysterectomy,  suprapubic  and 
infrapubic,  over  120  times. 

His  Private  Sanatorium  for  Diseases  of  Women  and 
Abdominal  Surgery,  five  stories  high,  with  an  elevator 
and  the  most  modern  facilities  of  every  kind  to  render 
his  work  successful,  speaks  plainly  of  what  an  indomitable 
energy  in  the  surgical  type  of  a  man  will  accomplish.  He 
is  the  second  in  the  world,  and  the  only  American  sur- 
geon who,  in  operating  for  extra-uterine  pregnancy,  has 
dissected  out  the  entire  sac  which  contained  a  living  child, 
and  saved  the  life  of  both  mother  and  child  (see  Hirst's 
American  Obstetrics,  vol.  ii.  pp.  269,  270).  While  yet 
doing  general  surgery  he  exsected  the  knee-joint  five  times, 
with  five  recoveries  and  five  useful  limbs ;  and  performed 
lithotomy  five  times  in  the  male,  with  five  recoveries. 

At  the  beginning  of  his  special  work  he  visited  the 
hospitals  of  London,  Birmingham,  Paris,  Strassburg, 
Munich,  Vienna,  Leipsic,  Dresden,  Halle,  and  Berlin, 
critically  examining  the  methods  of  the  distinguished 
operators  in  the  department  of  diseases  of  women  and 
abdominal  surgery. 

In  1 89 1,  in  recognition  of  his  original  professional  work, 
the  degree  of  LL.D.  was  conferred  upon  him  by  Wabash 
College,  the  first  and  only  time  in  the  history  of  this  old 
institution  that  this  honor  has  been  given  to  a  medical 
man. 

The  Doctor  has  one  daughter,  Mary,  and  two  sons, 
Thomas  B.  and  Joseph  R.  Eastman,  associated  with  their 
father  in  practice  and  teaching. 

Dr.  Eastman  is  a  member  of  the  American  Medical 
Association,  and  at  their  meeting  last  June  in  Milwaukee, 
was  elected  Chairman  of  the  Section  of  Obstetrics  and 
Diseases  of  Women. 


,,,  DR.  ALBERT    VANDER    VEER. 


ALBERT  VANDER  VEER,  M.D.,  A.M.,  Ph.D., 

ALBANY,    N.    Y. 

Physicians  are,  without  doubt,  among  the  most  impor- 
tant members  of  a  community.  From  the  very  nature  of 
their  profession,  they  are  thoughtful,  sharp-sighted  men, 
always  abreast  of  the  knowledge  of  the  times,  and  ready 
to  apply  it  as  opportunity  affords.  In  public  life,  when- 
ever the  time  or  inclination  for  such  labor  exists,  the 
physician  is  pre-eminently  the  man  whose  work  will  re- 
dound to  the  credit  of  the  community  in  which  it  is  done. 
Fortunate,  indeed,  is  the  city  whose  leading  physicians  find 
time  to  aid  in  the  conduct  of, its  affairs. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch,  Dr.  Albert  Vander  Veer, 
although  scarcely  of  middle  age,  has  attained  a  prominence 
in  his  profession  which  easily  makes  him  its  local  head  as 
well  as  places  him  far  along  in  the  ranks  of  its  recognized 
leaders.  He  was  born  in  the  village  of  Leatherville,  in 
the  town  of  Root,  Montgomery  County,  State  of  New 
York,  on  July  10,  1841.  His  father  was  an  energetic  and 
successful  business  man,  whose  tanneries  gave  the  name  to 
the  place.  His  early  education  was  received  at  the  public 
school  at  Palatine  and  at  the  Canajoharie  Academy. 

When  eighteen  years  of  age  Albert  Vander  Veer  began 
the  study  of  medicine,  for  which  he  had  a  strong  inclina- 
tion, with  the  late  Dr.  Simeon  Snow,  of  Currytown,  New 
York.  After  a  year's  work  on  the  rudiments  the  young 
man  came  to  Albany  and  entered  the  office  of  the  late  Dr. 
John  Swinburne.  During  the  years  1861  and  1862  he 
attended  the  lectures  of  the  Albany  Medical  College,  where 
so  many  physicians  of  prominence  have  been  taught  the 
elements  of  the  profession.  In  the  spring  of  1862  the 
student,  now  thoroughly  imbued  with  ardor  for  his  profes- 


/f~L^^^ 


£\^1^. 


%^-^D^ 


DR.  ALBERT   VAJNDER    VEER.  345 

sion,  became  one  of  the  original  "One  Hundred,"  was 
commissioned  as  a  United  States  medical  cadet,  and 
ordered  to  report  for  duty  at  Columbia  College  Hospital 
at  Washington,  D.  C.  While  at  this  post  he  attended  a 
course  of  lectures  at  the  National  Medical  College,  from 
which  institution  he  received  the  degree  of  doctor  of  medi- 
cine in  December,  1862.  After  graduation  Dr.  Vander 
Veer  was  commissioned  assistant  surgeon  of  the  Sixty-sixth 
Regiment,  New  York  Volunteers,  and  in  June,  1864,  was 
raised-  to  the  grade  of  surgeon  with  the  rank  of  major. 
He  served  with  his  regiment  until  the  close  of  the  war. 

Upon  returning  to  New  York  he  attended  a  full  course 
of  lectures  at  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  and 
in  the  spring  of  1866  established  himself  in  Albany  as  a 
general  practitioner.  In  July,  1869,  he  was  called  to  the 
chair  of  general  and  special  anatomy  in  the  Albany  Med- 
ical College,  where  as  a  student  he  had  received  his  first 
instruction  and  which  had  in  1869  conferred  upon  him 
the  honorary  title  of  M.D.  In  the  same  year  he  became 
attending  surgeon  to  the  Albany  Hospital,  and  in  1874 
was  appointed  attending  surgeon  to  St.  Peter's  Hospital. 
In  January,  1882,  he  was  appointed  professor  of  surgery 
in  the  Medical  College,  which  position  he  holds  at  the 
present  time,  and  in  which  he  ever  labors  strenuously  for 
the  promotion  of  the  interests  of  the  institution  and  of 
the  profession. 

In  October,  1874,  Dr.  Vander  Veer  visited  Europe, 
where  he  remained  until  the  following  April,  occupying 
his  time  chiefly  in  professional  study  and  visiting  the  great 
centres  of  medical  instruction,  where  he  watched  with 
absorbing  interest  the  brilliant  operations  of  the  renowned 
surgeons  and  specialists. 

The  next  ten  years  of  Dr.  Vander  Veer's  life  were  years 
of  unremitting  labor  in  his  chosen  profession.  But  the 
labor  brought  its  rewards.  In  1882  Williams  College  con- 
ferred upon  him  the  degree  of  A.M.,  and  Union  College, 


346 


DR.  ALBERT    VANDER    VEER. 


as  well  as  Hamilton,  honored  him  with  the  degree  of 
Ph.D. 

In  1884  Dr.  Vander  Veer  again  visited  Europe,  this 
time  accompanied  by  his  wife,  formerly  Miss  Margaret  E. 
Snow,  daughter  of  Dr.  Simeon  Snow,  his  old  preceptor. 

During  this  sojourn  he  was  entertained  by  Mr.  Lawson 
Tait,  whose  fame  as  a  surgical  specialist  is  known  all  over 
the  world.  During  the  trip  he  also  read  a  paper  before 
the  Copenhagen  Medical  Congress. 

Besides  being  ex-President  and  member  of  both  the 
county  and  State  medical  societies,  Dr.  Vander  Veer  is 
also  a  member  of  the  Boston  Gynecological  Society,  the 
British  Medical  Association,  the  International  Medical 
Congress,  the  British  Gynecological  Society,  the  American 
Surgical  Association,  the  Holland  Society  of  New  York, 
of  which  he  is  the  Vice-President  of  the  Albany  district, 
having  had  conferred  upon  him  at  the  last  Holland  Society 
dinner  in  New  York  the  order  of  "  Oranje-Nassau  "  by  the 
Queen  of  Holland. 

He  is  also  one  of  the  executive  officers  of  the  Pan- 
American  Medical  Congress,  an  active  member  of  the 
Southern  Surgical  and  Gynecological  Association,  Ameri- 
can Association  of  Obstetricians  and  Gynecologists,  etc. 

To  all  these  he  gives  some  portion  of  his  time,  systemat- 
ically divided.  In  addition,  he  is  busily  at  work  at  every 
available  moment  upon  his  college  lectures  or  gathering  in 
writing  the  results  of  his  varied  surgical  experiences  for 
the  benefit  of  his  professional  brethren. 

Among  the  subjects  upon  which  Dr.  Vander  Veer  has 
lectured  or  written  are:  "The  Operation  for  Stone,  as 
Observed  in  some  of  the  London  Hospitals,  together  with 
a  Report  of  Cases  from  Private  Practice;"  "Operation 
for  Closure  of  Cleft  of  Hard  and  Soft  Palate"  (series  of 
American  Clinical  Lectures)  ;  "  Report  of  Three  Cases  of 
Excision  of  the  Rectum;"  "Report  of  Eight  Cases  of 
Uterine  Fibroids;  "   "  History  of  Abdominal  Surgery  in 


DR.  ALBERT  VAXDER    VEER. 


347 


Albany,  with  report  of  Seventy-five  Cases;"  "Reports 
of  Ten  Cases  of  Gastric  Ulcer,"  etc.,  some  of  his  earlier 
works.  Of  late  Dr.  Vander  Veer  has  devoted  much  of  his 
time  to  abdominal  surgery  at  the  Albany  Hospital,  and  to 
a  steadily  increasing,  extended  consultation  and  operating 
practice  outside  of  his  own  city. 

Among  his  later  publications  are  to  be  found:  "The 
Use  of  the  Curette  in  Uterine  Surgery;"  "Uterine 
Hemorrhage,  Puerperal  and  Non-puerperal ;  "  "The  Man- 
agement of  Cancer  of  the  Uterus,  Complicated  by  Preg- 
nancy, with  Report  of  a  Case;"  "  Hystero-epilepsy, 
with  Report  of  Cases;  "  "  Retro-peritoneal  Tumors :  their 
Anatomical  Relations,  Pathology,  Diagnosis,  and  Treat- 
ment ;  "  "  Tubercular  Peritonitis  ;  "  "  Report  of  Cases  of 
Cholecystotomy,  with  Special  Reference  to  the  Treatment 
of  Calculus  Lodging  in  the  Common  Duct;  "  "The  Re- 
lation of  the  Board  of  Health  to  the  Public  ;  "  "Appen- 
dicitis: the  Relation  of  the  Physician  and  the  Surgeon  in 
the  Care  of  Cases  ;  "  "  Comparison  between  Perineal  and 
Suprapubic  Cystotomy;"  "She  Thought  It  was  Her 
Change  of  Life  ;  "  "  The  Medico-Legal  Aspect  of  Abdom- 
inal Section;"  "Extra-uterine  Pregnancy;"  "Con- 
cealed Pregnancy:  its  Relations  to  Abdominal  Surgery  ;  " 
"The  Relation  of  the  Abdominal  Surgeon  to  the  Obstetri- 
cian and  Gynecologist;"  "Intestinal  Obstruction;" 
"  Report  of  Cases  of  Cceliotomy  performed  at  the  Albany 
Hospital  from  July  to  November,  1893,  w^tn  Presentation 
of  Pathological  Specimens,"  etc. 

The  pressure  of  increasing  professional  duties  does  not 
prevent  Dr.  A7ander  Veer  from  taking  an  active  interest  in 
municipal  affairs,  and  the  value  of  his  services  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Board  of  Health,  the  Historical  Society,  etc., 
are  fully  recognized.  He  is  a  member  of  the  First  Presby- 
terian Church,  and  was  selected  as  a  Commissioner  to 
attend  the  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly  at  Omaha. 

Whatever  of  eminence  he  has  attained  has  been  secured 


34S  DR.  J.  HENRY  CARS! ENS. 

by  close  application,  unremitting  labor,  and  a  determined 
following  of  those  inclinations  which,  in  his  youth,  led 
him  to  choose  for  his  own  the  responsibilities  of  the  silent 
profession.  Honored  by  his  associates,  loved  and  respected 
by  his  patients,  Dr.  Vander  Veer's  career  may  well  be 
emulated  by  all  young  men  who  are  ambitious  to  secure 
for  themselves  the  approval  of  their  fellows  and  the  emolu- 
ments which  come  of  necessity  to  the  leader  in  any  pro- 
fession. 


J.  HENRY  CARSTENS,  M.D., 

DETROIT,  MICH., 

Was  born  June  9,  1848,  in  the  city  of  Kiel,  in  the  Ger- 
man province  of  Schleswig  Holstein.  His  father,  John 
Henry  Carstens,  a  merchant  tailor,  was  an  ardent  revolu- 
tionist, and  participated  in  the  various  revolts  in  the 
memorable  years  of  1848-49.  He  had  been  captured  and 
was  in  prison  when  his  son  was  born ;  after  some  months 
he  was  released  and  began  attending  to  his  business,  but, 
fearing  that  he  might  be  again  imprisoned,  he  packed  up  a 
few  goods  and,  with  his  family,  left  in  the  dead  of  the 
night  for  America.  On  his  arrival  he  settled  in  Detroit, 
where  he  has  since  remained.  One  of  his  grandfathers 
was  an  architect  and  builder ;  another  a  shipbuilder ; 
many  of  his  uncles,  with  ether  relatives,  were  officers  in 
the  army  and  navy,  and  nearly  all  of  them  participated  in 
the  revolution  and  were  forced  to  leave  Germany  and 
come  to  the  United  States. 

J.  H.  Carstens  is  the  elder  of  two  children.  His  earlier 
education  was  received  in  the  public  schools  of  Detroit, 
supplemented  by  six  years'  attendance  at  the  German- 
American  Seminary.  While  receiving  instruction  at  the 
latter  institution  his  parents  lived  on  a  farm  four  and  a 
half  miles  from  the  city,  which  distance  he  was  compelled 


DR.  J.   HENRY  CARSTENS.  349 

to  walk  twice  a  day.  He  evinced,  even  as  a  boy,  an  eager 
desire  for  intellectual  work,  excelled  as  a  student,  and 
took  high  rank  in  his  studies,  especially  in  those  pertaining 
to  natural  sciences  and  mathematics.  Before  he  had 
attained  his  fifteenth  year  he  was  compelled  to  engage  in 
business,  and,  after  some  time  devoted  to  lithography,  he 
entered  the  drug  store  of  William  Thum,  and  afterward 
served  in  Duffield's  drug  store  and  with  B.  E.  Sickler.  He 
became  proficient  in  the  various  details  of  the  business, 
served  one  year  as  prescription  clerk  in  Stearns's  drug 
store,  and  then  began  the  study  of  medicine,  his  name 
being  the  first  on  the  matriculation  book  of  the  Detroit 
Medical  College.  Even  before  graduation  he  had  charge 
of  the  college  dispensary,  and  after  his  graduation,  in  1870, 
he  was  immediately  put  in  charge  of  the  college  dispen- 
sary, and  a  few  years  later  held  the  same  position  in  St. 
Mary's  Hospital  Infirmary.  He  was  appointed  lecturer 
on  minor  surgery  in  the  Detroit  Medical  College  in  1871, 
and  afterward  lecturer  on  diseases  of  the  skin  and  clinical 
medicine. 

He  has  lectured  on  almost  every  branch  of  medical 
science,  the  most  important  subjects  so  treated  being  dis- 
eases of  women  and  children,  differential  diagnosis,  ner- 
vous diseases,  physical  diagnosis,  pathology,  chemistry, 
materia  medica,  and  therapeutics.  His  taste  and  practice 
gradually  tended  to  the  diseases  of  women ;  and,  after 
holding  the  professorship  of  materia  medica  and  therapeu- 
tics in  the  Detroit  Medical  College  for  some  years,  in  1881 
he  accepted  the  professorship  of  obstetrics  and  clinical 
gynecology,  a  position  he  has  ever  since  held ;  and  on  the 
consolidation  with  the  Michigan  College  of  Medicine  he 
was  appointed  to  the  same  position  in  the  Detroit  College 
of  Medicine.  As  a  lecturer  on  medical  subjects  he  has 
performed  most  satisfactory  labors,  is  thorough  in  his 
investigations  and  in  the  application  of  knowledge  gained 
by  practical  experience  and  unremitting  research.     He  is 


3;o  DR.  J.  HEXRY  CARSTEXS. 

terse,  clear,  and  practical,  and  easily  wins  the  respect  of 
those  who  come  under  his  teaching. 

In  view  of  the  experiences  of  his  father,  it  is  but  natural 
that  Dr.  Carstens  should  have  a  strong  taste  for  politics. 
Ever  since  he  has  been  old  enough  to  understand  the 
political  situation  in  this  country  he  has  been  a  staunch 
Republican.  Before  his  twentieth  year  he  delivered  polit- 
ical speeches,  and  this  he  continued  for  many  years, 
speaking  in  either  English  or  German  in  many  parts  of  the 
State  of  Michigan.  In  1876  he  was  elected  chairman  of 
the  Republican  City  Committee,  and  at  the  same  time  was 
a  member  of  the  County  Committee.  During  the  year  he 
held  these  positions  he  materially  assisted  in  securing 
Republican  control  of  the  city  and  county.  Both  as  an 
organizer  and  as  an  earnest  and  effective  worker  he  has 
rendered  valuable  aid  in  gaining  victories  for  his  party, 
and  has  been  often  tendered  party  nominations.  He  has, 
however,  thus  far  refused  to  become  a  candidate  for  office, 
with  the  exception  of  a  nomination  as  member  of  the 
Board  of  Education,  to  which  he  was  elected  in  1875  and 
re-elected  in  1879.  ^n  1S77  he  was  appointed  president  of 
the  Board  of  Health,  and  during  his  term  of  office  ren- 
dered valuable  assistance  in  checking  the  spread  of  small- 
pox, which  was  then  prevalent.  On  the  organization  of 
the  Michigan  Republican  Club  he  was  elected  a  director. 
His  rapidly  increasing  professional  duties  of  late  years 
have  prevented  active  political  work,  and,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  an  occasional  speech,  his  whole  time  has  been 
devoted  to  his  profession.  His  contributions  to  medical 
literature  have  been  various  and  extended. 

He  has  reported  many  clinical  lectures  and  has  trans- 
lated various  articles  from  German  and  French  medical 
journals.  Among  the  more  important  of  the  articles 
written  by  him  may  be  named  :  "  Cleft-palate  and  Iodo- 
form;" "Medical  Education;  "  "Embolism;"  "Vac- 
cination;"    "Household    Remedies;"     "Phantasia;" 


DR.  J.  HENRY  CARSTENS.  35! 

"Clinical  Lectures  ;  "  "A  Case  of  Obstetrics ;  "  "  Dysen- 
tery Cured  without  Opium;"  "Strangulated  Hernia;" 
"Hemorrhoids;  "  "  Clinical  Lectures  on  Gynecology;  " 
"A  Case  of  Epilepsy  Caused  by  Uterine  Stenosis;" 
"Three  Cases  of  Battey's  Operation;"  "Uterine  Can- 
cer;" "Menorrhagia  and  Metrorrhagia;"  "Cancer;" 
"  Ergot  in  Labor ;  "  "  Mechanical  Therapeutics  of  Amen- 
orrhoea;  "  "A  Different  Method  of  Treating  a  Case  of. 
Freshly  Ruptured  Perineum  ;  "  "  Fibroid  Tumor  Removed 
by  Laparotomy;  "  "  Vesico-vaginal  Fistula;  "  "  Loewen- 
thal  Theory  of  Menstruation  ;  "  "Mastitis;"  "Laceration 
of  the  Cervix  Uteri;"  "Two  Successful  Porro-Caesarean 
Sections;  "  "Laparotomy  with  and  without  Drainage;  " 
"Six  Years'  Work  in  Abdominal  Surgery,  Technique, 
Vaginal  Hysterectomy,  etc.;"  and  a  small  book  on 
'  'Amenorrhcea,  Dysmenorrhcea,  and  Menorrhagia. ' '  Lately 
he  has  only  written  on  questions  of  abdominal  surgery,  as 
he  has  for  years  given  up  general  practice,  and  even 
obstetrics,  to  be  able  to  give  his  whole  time  to  gynecology 
and  coeliotomy.  He  has  made  about  five  hundred  abdom- 
inal sections,  with  a  mortality  varying  from  7  to  15  per 
cent,  (different  years,  etc.).  Nearly  all  of  his  articles 
have  been  extensively  copied  by  medical  journals  in  this 
country,  and  some  by  European  journals. 

He  holds  the  position  of  gynecologist  to  Harper  Hos- 
pital, attending  physician  to  the  Woman's  Hospital,  and 
obstetrician  to  the  House  of  Providence.  He  is  a  member 
of  the  American  Medical  Association  and  of  the  Michigan 
State  Medical  Society,  of  which  he  was  vice-president  in 
1885;  president  of  the  Detroit  Medical  and  Library  Society ; 
a  member  of  the  Detroit  Academy  of  Medicine  and  of  the 
British  Gynecological  Society ;  honorary  member  of  the 
Ovvosso  and  Kalamazoo  Academy  of  Medicine  and  the 
Northeastern  District  Medical  Society ;  vice-president  of 
the  American  Association  of  Obstetricians  and  Gynecol- 
ogists ;  ex-president  of  the  Detroit  Gynecological  Society, 
etc. 


352 


DR.   HEXRY  O.   MARCY. 


His  advance  as  a  physician  has  been  steady  and  sure ; 
he  has  been  a  continuous  student  and  a  hard  worker ;  his 
practice  has  grown  into  an  extensive  and  remunerative 
one,  and  he  finds  his  time  and  hands  fully  occupied.  He 
has  given  to  certain  diseases  close  and  special  attention, 
and  has  worked  out  for  them  peculiar,  independent,  and 
successful  modes  of  treatment.  Among  his  professional 
brethren  he  holds  the  place  due  to  his  talents  and  manly 
character,  and  is  ever  ready  to  aid  any  enterprise  that  may 
be  originated  for  the  good  of  the  public.  Although  his 
professional  duties  are  onerous,  he  finds  time  for  general 
reading,  and  keeps  well  informed  in  a  wide  range  of  intel- 
lectual culture ;  is  thorough  and  earnest  in  all  that  he 
undertakes ;  and  has  the  undivided  good-will  and  respect 
of  the  community  in  which  he  dwells. 

He  was  married  October  18,  1870,  to  Hattie  Rohnert, 
who  had  for  some  time  been  a  teacher  in  one  of  the  public 
schools. 


HENRY  O.  MARCY,  A.M.,  M.D.,  LL.D., 

BOSTON,    MASS. 

Dr.  Henry  O.  Marcy  is  of  New  England  birth  and  an- 
cestry, and  is  a  graduate  of  Harvard  University.  He  was 
a  surgeon  and  medical  director  in  the  late  war  between 
the  States.  He  was  a  special  student  in  Europe  in  1869 
and  1870,  and  was  the  first  American  pupil  to  receive  the 
instruction  of  Mr.  Lister  at  Edinburgh.  At  this  time  he 
commenced  original  investigations  upon  the  pathological 
conditions  incident  to  surgery,  especially  the  relation  of 
bacteria  to  wounds  and  their  role  in  infectious  diseases, 
publishing  from  time  to  time  his  researches  and  discov- 
eries. For  this  purpose  he  equipped  a  bacteriological 
laboratory,  and  for  several  years  employed  Dr.  Samuel  N. 


DR.  HENRY  O.   MARCY. 


353 


Nelson  as  assistant  in  this  work.  Dr.  Marcy  early  became 
interested  in  abdominal  surgery,  and  saw  much  of  the 
pioneer  work  of  Dr.  H.  R.  Storer,  of  Boston,  and  of  that 
of  the  late  Dr.  Gilman  Kimball,  of  Lowell.  In  1880  he 
opened  a  private  hospital  for  the  special  treatment  of  sur- 
gical diseases  of  women,  which  is  continued  at  the  present. 
Dr.  Marcy  is  a  most  skilful  operator,  and  he  elaborated 
the  method  of  the  peritoneal  covering  of  the  stump, 
after  the  removal  of  ovarian  and  uterine  tumors,  for  intra- 
abdominal treatment  of  the  pedicle,  and  the  closure  of  the 
abdominal  wound  without  drainage,  now  so  generally 
accepted  and  practised. 

The  profession  is  indebted  to  his  researches  for  the 
demonstration  of  the  advantages  derived  from  the  use  of 
buried  animal  sutures,  closing,  layer  after  layer,  all  aseptic 
wounds,  even  the  major  amputations,  and  hermetically 
sealing  with  iodoform-collodion  without  the  use  of  the 
drainage-tube.  The  advantages  to  be  derived  from 
animal — especially  tendon — sutures  were  demonstrated  by 
a  long  series  of  comparative  studies,  which  taught  the 
replacement  in  large  degree  of  the  aseptic  buried  material 
by  vitalized  connective  tissue.  Dr.  Marcy's  methods  for 
the  reconstruction  of  the  pelvic  structures  have  been  very 
generally  adopted.  His  contributions  to  medical  litera- 
ture have  been  very  numerous  and  extend  over  a  wide 
range  of  surgical  subjects.  He  is,  perhaps,  best  known  to 
the  profession  by  his  writings  upon  hernia,  his  latest  pub- 
lication upon  the  subject  being  "The  Anatomy  and  Sur- 
gical Treatment  of  Hernia,"  a  large,  illustrated,  quarto 
volume,  published  in  1892  by  D.  Appleton  &  Co. 

Dr.  Marcy  is  an  active  member  of  various  societies, 
has  been  honored  with  the  presidency  of  the  American 
Academy  of  Medicine,  and  in  1892  was  president  of  the 
American  Medical  Association. 


23 


3C/1  DR.    WALKER   GILL    WYLIE. 


WALKER   GILL  WYLIE,  M.D., 

NEW   YORK,    N.    V. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch,  Walker  Gill  Wylie,  M.D., 
was  born  in  Chester,  S.  C,  September  2,  1848.  His 
father,  Alexander  Pierson  Wylie,  was  a  surgeon  and  physi- 
cian of  considerable  note,  and  for  more  than  forty  years 
he  practised  medicine  in  Chester  County.  His  antecedents 
were  Scotch-Irish  Protestants,  from  the  North  of  Ireland, 
as  were  many  of  those  who  early  emigrated  to  East  Ten- 
nessee and  the  Carolinas.  Dr.  Alexander  Pierson  Wylie 
was  a  strong  Union  man,  and  opposed  secession  from  a 
moral  standpoint.  For  forty  years,  or  more,  the  grand- 
father, Peter  Kelsey  Wylie,  held  the  office  of  Probate 
Judge  in  his  district.  The  nullification  principles  and 
measures  of  John  C.  Calhoun  he  bitterly  opposed. 

The  maiden  name  of  the  mother  of  Dr.  W.  Gill  Wylie 
was  Juliette  Agnes  Gill,  whose  father  was  Robert  Walker 
Gill,  a  merchant  of  Lancaster.  Her  ancestors  were 
English. 

Dr.  Wylie's  early  educational  advantages  were  confined 
to  the  village  school,  which  was  the  only  opportunity 
offered  then  of  obtaining  an  education. 

When  at  the  age  of  sixteen  years,  the  war  cry  was  pro- 
claimed calling  men  to  arms,  inspired  by  that  Southern 
chivalry  so  characteristic  of  the  youths  of  the  ante-bellum 
days,  he  volunteered  his  youthful  services  to  the  Southern 
army  as  Lieutenant.  At  this  tender  age  he  commanded  a 
company  in  front  of  General  Sherman's  army  in  its  march 
from  Savannah  into  North  Carolina.  When  hostilities 
had  ceased  between  the  North  and  the  South,  he  entered 
the  University  of  South  Carolina,  previously  known  as  the 


-Ur&Mskr^Lt 


DR.    WALKER    GILL    WYLIE. 


355 


College  of  South  Carolina.  After  an  attendance  of  two 
years,  he  graduated  from  all  the  studies  of  the  scientific 
course,  and  at  twenty  years  of  age  (in  1868)  he  entered 
Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College  in  New  York  city. 

In  the  year  1870,  by  competitive  examination,  he  secured 
the  position  of  "interne,"  or  house  surgeon.  In  1871  he 
graduated,  but  still  retained  the  position  of  house  surgeon 
of  the  hospital  for  a  year  and  a  half.  In  1872  he  was 
appointed  as  "interne"  of  the  New  York  Woman's  Hos- 
pital. This  position  was  also  secured  upon  another 
competitive  examination,  which  held  for  eighteen  months. 

Dr.  Wylie's  progressive  nature,  and  an  ardent  desire  to 
obtain  still  greater  knowledge  relating  to  his  chosen  pro- 
fession, induced  him  to  go  to  Europe  and  make  an  especial 
investigation  and  study  of  hospital  nursing  and  systems  of 
hospital  management. 

Having  obtained  this  desired  knowledge,  he  presented 
at  the  Cooper  Institute,  before  an  audience  composed 
entirely  of  ladies,  a  paper  on  "Training  Schools  for 
Nurses. ' ' 

At  that  time  the  subject  was  quite  new,  consequently  the 
paper  attracted  much  attention.  Encouraging  results  came 
from  this  movement,  and  the  consequence  has  been  to 
revolutionize  the  system  in  the  United  States. 

The  Bellevue  Training  School  was  organized  twenty 
years  ago,  and  Dr.  Wylie  has  personally  examined  every 
graduate  during  that  entire  time.  He  was  greatly  inter- 
ested in  hospital  work,  and  co-operated  with  the  State 
Charities'  Aid  Association  in  this  matter. 

His  private  practice  in  New  York  city  dates  from  1873. 
In  1876  he  issued  a  book  upon  Hospitals ;  Their  History, 
Organization,  and  Construction.  This  was  the  Boylston 
prize  essay  of  Harvard  University  for  1876. 

Dr.  Wylie  also  studied  hospital  construction,  and  the 
sanitary  arrangements  in  buildings  won  success  and  dis- 
tinguished him  as  a  sanitary  engineer. 


356  DR.    WALKER  GILL    WYLIE. 

But  his  remarkable  skill  in  gynecology  and  great  success 
in  abdominal  surgery  soon  made  him  very  prominent  in 
this  especial  line  of  surgery,  and  placed  him  among  the 
most  brilliant  and  successful  operators.  By  his  skilful 
operations  cases  heretofore  considered  incurable  have  been 
restored  to  health.  No  one  surgeon  has  been  more  emi- 
nently successful  in  abdominal  section  or  laparotomy. 
Indeed,  his  percentage  of  recoveries  in  this  line  of  surgery 
remains  unprecedented.  Much  of  his  success  must  be 
attributed  to  sound  judgment,  extreme  cleanliness,  and  a 
natural  skill  combined  with  a  perfect  knowledge  of 
abdominal  surgery. 

In  1882  he  was  appointed  visiting  gynecologist  of  Belle- 
vue  Hospital.  He  still  holds  this  position.  In  1877  he 
became  associated  with  the  late  Dr.  J.  Marion  Sims. 

In  1878  Dr.  Wylie  established  a  private  hospital,  located 
at  No.  215  West  Forty-third  street,  New  York  city.  Asso- 
ciated with  him  in  his  hospital  and  general  practice  is  his 
brother,  Dr.  Robert  H.  Wylie,  also  a  surgeon  of  consider- 
able prominence  in  all  the  essentials  necessary  to  make  a 
distinguished  operator,  and  is  only  second  to  his  renowned 
brother. 

Dr.  W.  Gill  Wylie  is  associated  with  many  societies  and 
medical  associations,  such  as  the  American  Medical  Asso- 
ciation, New  York  State  and  New  York  County  Medical 
Societies,  the  New  York  and  the  Northwestern  Society,  the 
New  York  Pathological  Society,  the  New  York  Academy 
of  Medicine,  the  American  Gynecological  Society,  the 
British  Gynecological  Society,  and  various  others. 

He  is  Professor  of  Gynecology  in  the  New  York  Poly- 
clinic Hospital,  and  is  Consulting  Surgeon  of  the  Seney 
Hospital,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.  He  is  the  author  of  numerous 
treatises  and  papers  relating  to  his  specialty,  gynecology. 

In  June,  1877,  Dr.  Wylie  was  married  to  Miss  Fannie 
H.  Damon,  a  daughter  of  Edward  A.  Damon,  a  merchant 
engaged  in  business  in  St.  Louis,  Mo.    Dr.  and  Mrs.  Wylie 


7/UMl^Z^-^y 


DR.  EGBERT  GUERNSEY. 


357 


have  four  very  interesting  and  promising  children — two 
sons  and  two  daughters. 

The  Doctor  is  full  of  energy,  hale  and  vigorous,  with  a 
prospect  of  a  long  life  before  him.  Much  of  his  wonder- 
ful success  may  be  attributed  to  his  remarkable  good  health. 
May  he  long  live  to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  his  success,  and 
continue  in  his  earnest  efforts  to  relieve  the  afflicted  and 
suffering  who  throng  his  presence  seeking  relief. 


EGBERT  GUERNSEY,  M.D., 

NEW   YORK,  N.  Y. 

To  Dr.  Egbert  Guernsey  the  new  school  of  medicine 
owes  much  of  its  life  and  success.  Grasping  with  his 
broad  and  liberal  mind  the  truths  of  the  dual  action  of 
drugs,  he  has  ever  been  constant  in  advancing  their  prin- 
ciples, and  it  is  greatly  through  his  efforts  that  the  two 
schools  of  medicine  have  come  within  touch  of  one 
another.  He  has  ever  been  foremost  in  advocating  a 
broad  and  unrestrained  medical  training,  and  his  time  and 
experience  have  always  been  at  the  call  of  younger  and 
less  experienced  medical  brethren. 

To  the  poor  and  needy  his  skill  and  purse  are  ever  free, 
and  well  may  Bret  Harte  say  in  The  Man  Whose  Yoke  Was 
Not  Easy,  speaking  of  his  friend  and  physician,  Dr. 
Guernsey:  "He  handed  me  a  note.  It  was  from  a  cer- 
tain physician ;  a  man  of  broad  culture  and  broader 
experience ;  a  man  who  had  devoted  a  greater  part  of  his 
life  to  the  alleviation  of  sorrow  and  suffering ;  a  man  who 
lived  up  to  the  vows  of  a  noble  profession ;  a  man  who 
locked  in  his  honorable  breast  the  secrets  of  a  hundred 
families ;  whose  face  was  kindly,  whose  touch  was  as  gentle 
as  the  dying  Narcissa ;  a  man  who,  through  long  contact 
with  suffering,  had  acquired  a  universal  tenderness  and 


358 


DR.  EGBERT  GUERNSEY. 


breadth  of  kindly  philosophy;  a  man  who,  day  or  night, 
was  at  the  beck  and  call  of  anguish ;  a  man  who  never 
asked  the  creed,  belief,  moral  or  worldly  standing  of  the 
sufferer,  or  even  his  ability  to  pay  the  few  coins  that 
enabled  him  (the  physician)  to  exist  and  practise  his 
calling;  in  brief,  a  man  who  so  nearly  lived  up  to  the 
example  of  the  Great  Master  that  it  seems  strange  I  am 
writing  of  him  as  a  doctor  of  medicine  and  not  of 
divinity." 

Descended  on  both  sides  from  the  best  English  and 
American  ancestry,  Dr.  Guernsey  was  born  in  Litchfield, 
Conn.,  July  8,  1823.  The  name  of  his  first  American 
ancestor,  John  Guernsey,  who  is  said  to  have  emigrated 
from  the  Isle  of  Guernsey  in  1638,  appears  among  the  180 
Puritans  who  established  the  New  Haven  Colony.  The 
mother  of  Dr.  Guernsey  was  Amanda  Crosby,  a  direct 
descendant  of  Enoch  Crosby. 

Dr.  Guernsey's  descent  is  through  Joseph,  the  son  of 
John,  whose  name  appears  in  the  records  of  Milford,  Conn., 
in  1659 ;  thence  through  Joseph.  John  removed  to 
America,  Dutchess  County,  N.  Y.,  where  his  son  Noah, 
the  grandfather  of  Dr.  Guernsey,  was  born.  He  removed 
to  Litchfield,  Conn.,  having  previously  married  Miss  Hol- 
lister,  who  was  a  direct  descendant  of  William  Clinton, 
the  first  Earl  of  Huntingdon,  A.  D.  1350,  whose  descen- 
dant in  the  eighth  generation  became  Lord  High  Admiral 
of  England,  and  in  15 71  was  created  Earl  of  Lincoln,  the 
title  being  subsequently  merged  into  that  of  the  Duke  of 
Newcastle. 

Dr.  Guernsey  prepared  for  college  at  Phillips's  Acad- 
emy, Andover.  Before  completing  his  college  course, 
determining  on  medicine  as  his  future  profession,  he 
entered  the  office  of  Dr.  Valentine  Mott,  and  graduated 
in  1846  at  the  Medical  Department  of  the  University  of 
the  City  of  New  York. 

Beginning  the  practice  of  his  profession  in  Williams- 


DR.  EGBERT  GUERNSEY. 


359 


burg,  now  part  of  Brooklyn,  he  was  soon  after  appointed 
City  Physician.  In  1850  he  definitely  determined  upon 
New  York  City  as  his  field  of  work.  Up  to  this 
time  he  had  followed  the  old-school  practice.  Careful 
investigation  of  homoeopathy  impressed  him  with  its  im- 
proved methods.  Using  the  best  features  of  both  systems, 
he  has  always  been  a  liberal  practitioner,  and  unquestion- 
ably to-day  stands  first  and  foremost  in  that  large  class  of 
medical  men  who  prefer  to  be  allied  to  neither  one  nor  the 
other  system,  but  use  both  according  to  the  exigencies  of 
the  moment. 

For  six  years  Dr.  Guernsey  held  the  chair  as  professor, 
first  of  materia  medica,  and  then  of  theory  and  practice, 
in  the  New  York  Homoeopathic  Medical  College.  In 
1870  he  organized  the  Western  Dispensary,  since  united 
with  the  Hahnemann  Hospital,  of  which  he  was  also  one 
of  the  organizers. 

In  1877,  mostly  through  his  instrumentality,  the  Inebriate 
Asylum  on  Ward's  Island  was  converted  into  a  hospital 
and  placed  under  the  charge  of  a  competent  Board  of 
Physicians,  with  Dr.  Guernsey  as  president  of  the  board. 
He  was  for  nineteen  years  one  of  the  trustees  and  for  four 
years  vice-president  of  the  State  Insane  Asylum  of  the 
State  of  New  York  at  Middletown.  He  has  been  president 
of  the  County  and  State  Medical  Societies,  and  was  for  a 
period,  from  1864  to  1868,  surgeon  of  the  Sixth  Regiment 
of  the  State  National  Guard  of  New  York. 

Possessed  of  great  activity,  mentally  as  well  as  physi- 
cally, almost  from  the  beginning  he  has  given  a  certain 
portion  of  time  to  literary  work.  While  still  an  under- 
graduate in  the  University  the  Doctor  became  city  editor 
of  the  Evening  Mirror,  being  thus  associated  with  N.  P. 
Willis  and  George  P.  Morris.  This  was  in  1845.  ^n  I£>48 
he  started  the  Brooklyn  Daily  Times,  and  was  its  editor-in- 
chief.  In  1872  be  was  associated  with  Dr.  A.  Gerald  Hull 
in  editing  Fah?-  s  Manual.     In  1872  he  started  the  New 


360  DR-    CORNELIUS  KOLLOCK. 

York  Medical  Titties,  and  has  since  continued  as  its 
editor. 

While  a  young  physician  he  wrote  a  school  history  of 
the  United  States,  which  became  generally  used  through- 
out the  country.  In  1855  he  published  Domestic  Practice, 
which  has  since  passed  through  eleven  editions,  was  re- 
published in  England,  and  translated  into  the  French, 
German,  Spanish  and  Danish  languages.  He  has  been  at 
all  times  an  extensive  contributor  to  medical  journals. 
He  was  married  in  1848  to  Miss  Sarah  Lefferts  Schenck, 
a  descendant  of  one  of  the  imperial  seneschals  to  Charle- 
magne. Two  children  blessed  this  union,  a  daughter  and 
a  son.  The  death  of  his  son  (which  occurred  July  24, 
1893),  a  promising  young  physician,  has  been  one  of  the 
hardest  blows  which  have  fallen  to  Dr.  Guernsey's  lot. 
Most  keenly  he  feels  the  loss  of  his  son,  who  was  endowed 
with  a  warm,  sympathetic,  and  generous  nature,  ever  ready 
with  his  medical  skill  and  his  purse  to  aid  and  give  relief 
to  the  suffering,  and  there  is  no  one  who  will  not  feel,  as 
they  read  the  lines  which  tell  of  his  removal  to  another 
sphere,  that  the  life  which  was  so  full  of  love  and  kindly 
deeds,  now  freed  from  the  contamination  of  earth,  will 
blossom  in  that  other  world,  upon  which  he  has  opened  his 
eyes,  in  immortal  beauty  and  fragrance. 

Whether  as  professor,  editor,  author,  or  physician,  Dr. 
Guernsey's  strong  personality  has  exercised  a  remarkable 
influence  upon  all  with  whom  he  has  come  in  contact. 


CORNELIUS   KOLLOCK,  M.D., 

CHERAW,    SOUTH    CAROLINA. 

Dr.  Cornelius  Kollock  was  born  near  Cheraw,  S.  C, 
December  7,  1824.  He  received  his  early  education  at 
the  Cheraw  Academy,   entered    the   sophomore   class   of 


CORNELIUS  KOLLOCK,  M.  D. 


DR.   CORNELIUS  KOLLOCK. 


361 


Brown  University  in  1842,  graduated  in  1845,  studied 
medicine  three  years,  and  took  the  degree  of  M.D.  at  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania  in  1848.  Afterward  he  spent 
eighteen  months  in  Europe,  principally  in  Paris,  attending 
lectures  and  hospitals,  and  taking  private  lessons  of 
Malgaigne  and  Cazeaux.  Returning  home,  he  engaged 
in  general  practice  in  Cheraw,  giving  special  attention  to 
surgery,  gynecology,  and  obstetrics. 

He  has  done  abdominal  section  quite  a  number  of  times 
for  the  removal  of  ovarian  tumors  and  other  pelvic  growths, 
also  for  knife-  and  gunshot-wounds  of  the  bowels.  His 
success  in  operations  for  intestinal  obstructions  has  been 
good.  His  cases  of  strangulated  hernia  (which  were 
many)  have  all  resulted  in  recoveries.  He  has  removed 
the  uterus  twice,  both  times  successfully ;  has  done  Cse- 
sarean  section  once,  after  Sanger's  improved  method, 
saving  mother  and  child.  In  the  conservative  treatment 
of  pyosalpinx  he  has  had  good  results,  and  of  that  treat- 
ment he  is  an  earnest  advocate,  while  he  as  earnestly 
opposes  craniotomy  on  the  living  foetus. 

He  is  a  Fellow  of  the  American  Academy  of  Medicine, 
and  of  the  American  Gynecological  Society ;  has  been 
President  of  the  South  Carolina  Medical  Association ;  was 
Vice-President  of  the  American  Gynecological  Society  in 
1892  ;  was  Vice-President,  the  same  year,  of  the  Southern 
Surgical  and  Gynecological  Association,  and  was  elected 
its  President  at  its  late  meeting  in  New  Orleans. 

Dr.  Kollock,  as  a  practitioner  of  surgery,  has  secured  to 
an  unusual  extent  the  confidence,  gratitude,  and  esteem  of 
his  patients.  He  possesses  in  an  eminent  degree  the 
special  qualifications  requisite  to  the  surgeon.  His  gen- 
erous nature  and  his  unselfish  character  have  endeared 
many  hearts  to  him,  who  will  ever  hold  in  grateful  remem- 
brance his  many  noble  acts  of  charity  and  fidelity  to  the 
duties  of  his  profession. 


362  DE.  JACOB    GEIGER. 

JACOB  GEIGER,  M.D., 

ST.    JOSEPH,    MO., 

Was  born  in  Wurtemberg,  Germany,  July  25,  1848. 
His  father,  Anton  Geiger,  a  classmate  of  Niemeyer  in  the 
University  of  Tubingen,  died  in  1851.  Two  brothers 
having  emigrated  to  America,  the  subject  of  our  sketch, 
with  his  mother,  followed  them  in  the  spring  of  1856. 
Two  years  later  Mrs.  Geiger  died,  leaving  the  boy  penni- 
less and  an  orphan  in  a  strange  country. 

With  untiring  energy  and  pluck  he  set  about  to  acquire 
an  education,  attending  the  district  schools,  and  later 
attending  Homer  Seminary,  and  graduating  from  Bryant's 
Business  College.  Having  read  medicine  with  Galen  E. 
Bishop,  of  St.  Joseph,  Mr.  Geiger  began  the  practice  of 
medicine  in  that  city  prior  to  his  twentieth  birthday. 

In  the  spring  of  1872  he  received  the  degree  of  M.D., 
after  pursuing  a  regular  course  in  the  University  of  Louis- 
ville, Ky.  With  characteristic  energy  the  Doctor  began 
his  professional  career  by  working  heartily  in  the  different 
medical  societies  and  contributing  valuable  and  original 
articles  for  their  consideration.  The  Ensworth  Medical 
College  and  Hospital  and  the  colleges  from  which  this 
college  emanated  owe  their  existence  in  a  large  degree  to 
the  wisdom  and  zeal  of  Dr.  Geiger. 

While  devoting  his  attention  for  the  past  three  years 
almost  entirely  to  surgery,  the  Doctor  is  possessed  of  a 
broad  scholarship  in  all  that  pertains  to  his  chosen  profes- 
sion. One  of  the  organizers  of  the  Marion-Sims  College 
of  Medicine,  St.  Louis,  he  holds  the  chair  of  principles 
and  practice  of  surgery  and  clinical  surgery  in  that  insti- 
tution, and  holds  the  same  chair  in  the  Ensworth  Medical 
College  and  Hospital,  St.  Joseph,  Mo.,  and  is  one  of  the  life 


tkddu  %.  (puM:^.^ 


DR.   ISABELLA  M.   PETTET.  ,5, 

trustees  of  the  latter  institution.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
following  medical  societies :  American  Medical  Associa- 
tion, Mississippi  Valley  Medical  Society,  Missouri  Valley 
Medical  Society,  Missouri  State  Medical  Society,  North 
Kansas  Medical  Society,  Western  Association  of  Obste- 
tricians and  Gynecologists,  Grand  River  Medical  Society, 
St.  Louis  Medical  Society,  Buchanan  County  Medical  So- 
ciety, and  the  District  Medical  Society  of  Northwestern 
Missouri,  of  which  he  is  president. 

Dr.  Geiger's  ability  as  a  teacher,  his  expertness  as  a 
diagnostician,  and  his  skill  as  a  surgeon,  coupled  with  a 
kind  heart  and  a  noble,  generous  disposition,  have  en- 
deared him  to  the  community  and  State  in  which  he 
dwells.  Being  still  in  the  prime  of  life,  possessed  of  in- 
domitable will  and  tireless  energy,  much  may  be  expected 
of  him  in  the  future. 

Possessed  of  excellent  business  qualifications,  the  Doctor 
has  accumulated  a  comfortable  fortune.  In  1887  he  mar- 
ried Miss  Louise  Kollatz,  a  most  estimable  lady,  of  St. 
Joseph;  but  leaves  no  one  to  bear  his  name,  as  no  chil- 
dren have  been  born  to  them.  The  Doctor  is  a  Master 
Mason  and  in  religion  is  a  Presbyterian,  being  a  member 
of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  his  adopted  city. 


ISABELLA   M.    PETTET,  M.D., 

NEW    YORK,   N.   Y. 

Isabella  M.  Pettet,  M.D.,  was  born  in  Holstein,  Ger- 
many, June  6,  1843.  In  the  vear  1868  she  came  to  the 
United  States  and  first  located  in  Milwaukee,  Wisconsin, 
where  she  became  engaged  in  missionary  work  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

She  returned  to  the  city  of  New  York  in    1874,  and 


364  DR-  ISABELLA  M.  PETTET. 

entered  Bethany  Institute  in  1875,  connecting  herself  after- 
ward with  the  Mission  of  the  Mariners'  Church  of  the  New 
York  Port  Society,  acting  as  interpreter  to  the  mission- 
aries sent  out  to  visit  the  families  of  seafaring  men,  most 
of  them  being  Germans,  with  a  limited  knowledge  of  the 
English  language,  which  made  it  difficult  for  them  to 
understand  the  missionaries  rightly. 

While  she  was  interested  in  this  work  she  saw  large  num- 
bers of  sailors  walking  the  streets  having  no  particular 
object  in  view.  The  thought  occurred  to  her  that  it  would 
be  well  to  invite  them  to  attend  church,  and  although  her 
lady  companion  objected  strenuously  to  such  a  proceed- 
ing, as  this  line  of  work  had  always  been  intrusted  to  men, 
considering  it  improper  to  address  men  on  the  street,  Dr. 
Pettet  carried  her  point,  feeling  assured  that  the  Divine 
Master's  will  was  in  the  work,  and  with  His  guiding  hand 
they  started  out  to  invite  the  sailors  to  come  to  church. 
At  first  their  motives  were  ridiculed,  and  "Jack  Tar" 
laughed  at  them,  but  gradually  the  brave  "  Jack  Tar " 
became  convinced  that  it  was  for  his  good,  and  the  here- 
tofore empty  church  was  filled  every  evening.  They 
then  began  to  hold  meetings  for  the  sailors  every  morning 
and  evening,  which  were  seldom  attended  by  less  than  two 
hundred  or  more  seamen.  After  the  close  of  church  ser- 
vices Dr.  Pettet  would  take  aside  as  many  men  as  she 
could  instruct  in  Bible  truths ;  this  work  she  continued 
from  day  to  day  for  about  three  years. 

She  met  with  such  encouragement  that  she  decided 
to  carry  the  war  into  Africa  and  visit  the  sailor  board- 
ing-houses— a  proceeding  which  the  proprietors  of  the 
boarding-houses  bitterly  resented.  Persecutions  were  then 
heaped  upon  Dr.  Pettet,  and  words  cannot  express  what 
she  suffered  at  the  hands  of  intoxicated  boarding-house 
keepers  and  their  wives.  They  used  the  vilest  language 
toward  her,  and,  not  content  with  abusive  words,  threw 
burning   brooms,   decayed   eggs,    grease,  etc.,    over   her 


DR.  ISABELLA   M.  PETTET. 


365 


clothing,  which  compelled  her  to  take  a  detective  with 
her  for  protection.  This  did  not  deter  her  from  fol- 
lowing in  the  self-imposed  path  of  duty,  and  with  the 
help  of  our  Lord  she  was  enabled  to  accomplish  a  great 
work.  She  restored  to  their  parents  many  boys  who  had 
run  away  from  their  homes ;  many  a  well-educated  man, 
yes,  even  noblemen,  whom  the  vicissitudes  of  life  had 
thrown  into  the  maelstrom  of  the  slums  of  a  great  city, 
were  restored  to  their  families  and  Christian  society. 

She  is  the  recipient  of  grateful  letters  from  all  parts  of 
the  world  from  men  thus  saved  from  ruin,  and  who  have 
started  missions  in  various  parts,  like  "  The  Strangers' 
Rest"  in  Liverpool  and  London,  even  in  the  far  East, 
keeping  in  touch  with  the  good  work.  These  are  the 
Doctor's  most  cherished  remembrances,  where  she  has 
devoted  a  greater  part  of  her  life  to  the  spiritual  welfare  of 
humanity. 

Rather  with  a  desire  to  increase  her  usefulness  in  the 
missionary  field  and  among  the  afflicted,  too  poor  or 
ignorant  to  call  for  the  services  of  a  physician,  in  order 
to  aid  them  she  commenced  the  study  of  medicine  in 
1878,  and  was  graduated  from  The  New  York  Medical 
College  and  Hospital  for  Women  in  1881. 

For  ten  years  she  has  had  a  large  general  practice, 
mostly  among  the  needy,  especially  those  of  her  own  sex, 
doing  a  great  amount  of  gratuitous  work  for  them  like  a 
good  Samaritan. 

In  fact  we  may  well  say  that  the  entire  life  of  this 
noble-hearted  woman  has  been  devoted  to  relieving  the 
sufferings  of  others,  and  to  aid  and  cheer  them  through 
their  weary  pathway  of  life. 

For  five  years  Dr.  Pettet  has  made  gynaecology  or 
diseases  of  woman  her  specialty,  and  she  has  achieved 
remarkable  success  in  that  line. 

Dr.  Pettet  is  on  the  Medical  Staff  of  the  New  York 


366 


DR.  AUGUSTUS  PALMER  DUDLEY. 


Medical    College    and    Hospital    for  Women.     She    is    a 
member  of  the  New  York  County  Society,  etc. 

She  has  but  one  child,  a  promising  son,  sixteen  years  of 
age,  in  whom  she  takes  especial  delight.  He  is  worthy  a 
mother's  love. 


AUGUSTUS   PALMER   DUDLEY,  M.D., 

NEW   YORK,    N.    Y. 

In  Phipsburg,  Me.,  July  4,  1853,  Augustus  Palmer 
Dudley,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  born.  He  is  the 
third  son  of  Palmer  Dudley,  who  married  Frances  Wyman, 
a  daughter  of  Captain  Francis  Wyman,  a  native  of  Phips- 
burg, Me.  On  his  mother's  side  he  is  descended  from  the 
Percys  of  the  North  of  England  and  the  South  of  Scotland, 
whose  lineage  can  be  traced  to  the  tenth  century,  and 
from  the  Wymans,  of  Wales.  His  maternal  grandfather, 
Francis  Wyman,  also  his  paternal  grandfather,  Patrick 
Dudley,  were  soldiers  and  pensioners  of  the  war  of  181 2, 
being  respectively  Orderly,  Sergeant,  and  Ensign  of  Com- 
pany F,  South  Militia,  at  Fort  Hunnewell's  Point. 

His  paternal  great-grandfather,  William  Oliver,  and  his 
maternal  great-grandfather,  William  Wyman,  both  served 
in  the  Revolutionary  War.  His  father,  Palmer  Dudley, 
was  for  many  years  prominent  in  the  affairs  of  his  native 
town.  On  March  18,  1843,  ne  was  by  Governor  Kava- 
nagh  commissioned  Ensign  of  Company  F,  of  Infantry,  in 
the  1st  Regiment  of  the  1st  Brigade,  and  4th  Division  of 
the  Militia  of  the  State  of  Maine,  which  commission  he 
held  for  seven  years,  and  was  honorably  discharged  on 
April  18,  1 85 1. 

Dr.  Dudley  received  his  preparatory  education  at  the 
public  schools  and  at  the  Portland  Academy.  Being 
studious  and  earnest  in  his  endeavors  to  not  only  acquire 


(A>f2&™^  <$7^*^ys 


DR.  AUGUSTUS  PALMER   DUDLEY. 


367 


knowledge,  but  to  become  a  physician  and  surgeon,  he 
entered  the  Medical  Department  of  Bowdoin  College  at 
the  age  of  twenty-four,  and  was  graduated  with  high  honors 
from  Dartmouth  Medical  School  in  the  year  1877.  He 
commenced  the  practice  of  medicine  in  Portland,  Me.,  but 
possessing  natural  surgical  abilities  he  desired  to  seek  a 
broader  field,  where  his  surgical  advantages  would  be 
greater,  and  therefore  removed  to  New  York  City  in  the 
year  1881,  where  he  entered  the  Woman's  Hospital  as 
house  surgeon,  which  position  he  filled  for  eighteen  months. 
He  then  went  to  San  Francisco,  Cal.,  where  he  had  charge 
of  the  California  Woman's  Hospital  for  one  year.  He  re- 
turned to  New  York  in  1884  and  resumed  his  practice,  and 
has  been  remarkably  successful  in  his  specialty — abdominal 
. surgery. 

He  was  appointed  Instructor  in  Diseases  of  Women  at 
the  Post- Graduate  Medical  School  in  the  year  1887,  and 
Visiting  Gynecologist  to  the  Randall's  Island  Hospital  and 
Northeastern  Dispensary. 

Dr.  Dudley's  success  as  a  skilful  operator  has  given  him 
an  honored  reputation.  During  the  past  three  years  he 
has  three  times  performed  successfully  the  Caesarean  sec- 
tion, in  all  three  cases  saving  mother  and  child. 

In  May,  1893,  he  was  made  Professor  of  Diseases  of 
Women  in  the  Post-Graduate  Medical  School  to  fill  the 
vacancy  caused  by  the  death  of  Prof.  Charles  Carroll  Lee. 
He  has  written  numerous  papers  on  his  specialty,  among 
which  are  :  "  Vaginal  Hysterectomy  in  America,"  "  Vari- 
cocele in  the  Female,"  "Surgical  Treatment  of  Sub- 
involution," "A  New  Method  of  Surgical  Treatment  for 
Restoration  of  Lacerated  Perineum,"  "  A  New  Method  of 
Surgical  Treatment  for  Certain  Forms  of  Retro-displace- 
ment of  the  Uterus  with  Adhesions,"  etc.  Dr.  Dudley  is 
a  fluent  writer,  easy  and  progressive.  He  has  written  ex- 
tensively for  various  medical  journals,  some  articles  of 
which  have  been  translated  into  French  and  other  foreign 


368  DR.  AUGUSTUS  PALMER   DUDLEY, 

periodicals.  He  is  a  member  of  the  New  York  Academy 
of  Medicine,  New  York  Obstetrical  Society,  American 
Gynecological  Society,  American  Congress  of  Physicians 
and  Surgeons,  etc. 

He  is  a  contributor  to  various  medical  journals  and  other 
medical  literature. 

His  great  success  in  abdominal  surgery  can  only  be  at- 
tributed to  sound  judgment,  with  a  thorough  knowledge  of 
his  business  and  the  care  necessary  to  obtain  good  results 
in  critical  operations.  Although  comparatively  a  young 
man,  he  has  won  for  himself  an  envied  name  in  the  field  of 
abdominal  surgery. 

He  is  greatly  interested  in  the  Dudley  genealogy,  and 
in  the  summer  of  1891  made  a  trip  to  Europe  for  the  pur- 
pose of  tracing  back  the  lineage  of  his  American  ancestors. 
Through  the  courtesy  of  Sir  Bernard  Burke  he  was  granted 
free  access  to  the  records  of  Dublin  Castle,  and,  by  the 
kindness  of  Dr.  William  E.  Dudley,  of  Bath,  England,  he 
was  enabled  to  secure  a  complete  history  of  the  Irish  branch 
of  the  family,  as  above  described. 

Dr.  Dudley  married,  July  15,  1884,  Susanna  Stephens^ 
daughter  of  Jesse  Mason,  of  Victoria,  B.  C.  She  died 
July  30,  1888,  aged  twenty-six  years,  seven  months,  leav- 
ing no  children.  September  14,  1891,  he  married  Cas- 
sandra H.  Coon,  daughter  of  W.  J.  Adams,  of  San  Fran- 
cisco, Cal.  By  his  second  marriage  he  has  two  interesting 
little  girls. 

Dr.  Dudley  is  of  a  warm-hearted,  sympathetic  nature. 
May  he  be  spared  many  years  to  enjoy,  to  the  fullest  extent, 
the  fruits  of  an  industrious,  energetic  life. 


Id  1^ 


A 


(rtisuA-i 


369 


DR.   THEODORE    GAILLARD    THOMAS. 
THEODORE  GAILLARD  THOMAS,  M.D. 

NEW   YORK,    X.    Y. 

Dr.  Theodore  Gaillard  Thomas  was  born  on  Edisto 
Island,  South  Carolina,  on  the  21st  day  of  November,  in 
the  year  1831.  He  is  descended,  on  the  male  side  of  his 
house,  from  Rev.  Samuel  Thomas,  a  missionary  sent  to 
America,  by  the  Church  of  England,  in  the  year  1704,  to 
establish  the  Episcopal  Church  in  South  Carolina. 

On  his  mother's  side  Dr.  Thomas  is  a  descendant  of 
Joachim  Gaillard,  a  Huguenot  gentleman  who  left  France 
at  the  revocation  of  the  edict  of  Nantes,  and  settled  in 
what  is  known  as  the  Orange  District,  S.  C.  Many  prom- 
inent families  came  with  him  to  this  country  at  the  same 
time,  among  them  the  Hugers,  the  Ravenels,  and  many 
others. 

His  early  education  was  obtained  in  Charleston,  S.  C, 
and  in  1852  he  was  graduated  from  the  "  Medical  College  " 
of  that  city.  Shortly  thereafter  he  came  North  and  became 
Resident  Physician  in  Bellevue  Hospital,  New  York.  After 
completing  this  course  he  located  in  the  City  of  New  York, 
where,  with  Dr.  Donaghe,  he  established,  in  connection 
with  the  "  University  of  New  York,"  a  "quiz"  class, 
which  attracted  much  attention  and  became  very  success- 
ful. He  succeeded  Dr.  Bedford  as  lecturer  in  this  insti- 
tution. 

After  serving  as  Resident  Physician  in  Bellevue  and 
Ward's  Island  Hospitals,  he  went  to  Europe  for  study  and 
to  acquire  more  knowledge  regarding  gynecology  and 
other  branches  of  his  profession.  He  remained  in  Europe 
nearly  three  years,  returning  to  America  with  a  mind  well 
stored  with  medical  knowledge,  and  a  full  determination 
to  make  a  success  in  his  profession, 

24 


370 


DR.   THEODORE    GAILLARD    THOMAS. 


Many  who  admired  Dr.  Thomas  for  his  brilliant  oratory 
and  wonderful  ability  as  a  lecturer,  will  be  surprised  to 
learn  that  his  first  lecture  was  considered  a  perfect  failure 
by  his  friends.  But  it  was  his  first  and  last  failure,  as  we 
know,  for  since  then  none  of  his  colleagues  has  addressed 
more  delighted  audiences,  among  which  old  visiting  phy- 
sicians frequently,  in  their  eagerness  to  hear  and  see  the 
lecturer,  crowded  out  those  whose  matriculation  fee  gave 
them  the  better  right. 

Upon  his  return  from  Europe  he  entered  into  partnership 
with  Dr.  John  T.  Metcalfe,  who,  at  this  time,  "had  his 
finger  upon  the  pulse  of  fashionable  New  York."  He  was 
associated  with  Dr.  Metcalfe  fifteen  years  or  more.  From 
this  time  henceforth  his  success  was  assured,  and  he  rapidly 
rose  to  distinction  and  fame.  His  general  practice  became 
very  large,  but  he  devoted  himself  especially  to  obstetrics, 
and  made  a  great  reputation  in  this  branch  of  medicine. 
He  has  been  surgeon  or  physician  to  Bellevue,  the  Roose- 
velt, St.  Luke's,  the  Stranger's,  Blackwell's  Island,  and  the 
Woman's  Hospitals. 

He  was  appointed  Professor  of  Obstetrics  at  the  College 
of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  and  held  that  chair  for  many 
years,  succeeding  Professor  Chanler  R.  Gilman. 

When  the  Professorship  of  Diseases  of  Women  was 
established  at  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  he 
resigned  the  chair  of  Obstetrics  and  accepted  this,  Dr.  J.  H. 
McLane  succeeding  him  in  the  former  position. 

In  the  year  1863  he  was  appointed  Physician  to  the 
Woman's  Hospital,  and  four  years  later  he  became  Con- 
sulting Physician,  and  in  1873  he  was  appointed  one  of  the 
attending  surgeons  to  the  same  institution.  He  held  this 
position  until  a  few  years  ago,  when  he  resigned,  and  was 
requested  by  the  Board  of  Governors  to  name  his  suc- 
cessor. 

As  an  obstetrician  his  name  is  especially  identified  with 
the  operation  of  laparo-elytrotomy,  which  he  presented  to 


DR.  AUG  US  TIN  H.    GOELET. 


371 


the  profession  as  a  substitute  for  the  then  very  dangerous 
operation  of  Cesarean  section,  and  still  more  dangerous  one 
of  craniotomy.  He  has  performed  the  operation  a  number 
of  times  with  remarkable  success. 

As  a  gynecologist  he  has  devoted  himself  with  special 
taste  to  laparotomy.  In  this  branch  of  surgery  he  has 
acquired  great  experience  and  a  world-wide  reputation  as 
a  skilful  and  quick  diagnostician  and  successful  operator. 
His  coolness,  quickness,  and  skill  in  using  the  knife  are  the 
first  things  which  impress  the  observer  at  his  operations. 
Great  decision,  quickness  of  perception,  and  untiring 
energy  are,  to  the  impartial  observer,  among  the  leading 
traits  of  this  great  man's  character. 

He  is  a  fluent  and  able  writer.  He  published  a  work 
on  Diseases  of  Women,  in  1868,  which  found  its  place 
waiting  for  it,  and  attained  an  immense  sale.  This  work 
went  through  six  editions,  was  translated  into  the  Ger- 
man, French,  Spanish,  Italian,  and  Chinese  languages.  It 
was  the  most  complete  work  on  this  subject  then  in 
existence,  and  made  for  its  author  an  immediate  reputation 
as  a  gynecologist  of  the  first  rank. 

Dr.  Thomas  married  Miss  Mary  Willard,  a  granddaughter 
of  the  celebrated  Emma  Willard,  who  was  author,  poet,  and 
educator  of  women. 

Three  sons  bless  this  union,  none  of  whom  have  adopted 
medicine  as  a  calling. 


AUGUSTIN  H.    GOELET,  M.D., 

NEW   YORK,    N.    Y. 

Dr.  Augustin  H.  Goelet  was  born  April  1,  1854,  near 
Wilmington,  North  Carolina.  He  is  the  son  of  Dr.  Edward 
H.  Goelet  and  Virginia  Lane  Goelet.     His  father  was  a 


5~2  DR.  AUGUSTIN  H.    GOELET. 

prominent  surgeon  in  Greenville,  North  Carolina,  where 
he  practised  for  many  years  previous  to  his  retirement 
from  his  profession.  When  the  late  Civil  War  was  pro- 
claimed he  was  farming,  solely  for  pleasure,  on  his  estate, 
"Millbrank,"  near  Goldsboro,  North  Carolina.  The  war 
wrecked  his  entire  fortune. 

The  grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch  was  born 
in  New  York,  but  left  his  home  to  enlist  in  the  Revolution- 
ary War.  He  formed  the  acquaintance  of  Col.  Buncombe, 
one  of  North  Carolina's  most  prominent  citizens,  and  he 
afterward  married  the  sister  of  Col.  Buncombe,  and  settled 
in  eastern  North  Carolina,  his  estate  then  being  the  famous 
"Buncombe  Hall."  The  County  of  Buncombe,  situated 
in  the  western  part  of  North  Carolina,  was  once  a  part  of 
the  vast  estate  belonging  to  the  Buncombe  family,  being 
a  land  grant  by  the  Government  for  services  rendered 
during  the  Revolutionary  War. 

Dr.  Augustin  H.  Goelet  was  educated  at  the  Cape  Fear 
Military  Academy  at  Wilmington,  North  Carolina,  and  at 
the  University  of  Virginia,  where  he  attended  his  first 
course  of  medical  lectures  and  was  graduated  in  several 
branches  of  medicine.  In  1874  he  was  graduated  in  med- 
icine from  Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College,  New  York, 
and  entered  one  of  the  reception  hospitals  for  Bellevue. 
This  was  largely  an  emergency  hospital,  which  afforded 
facility  for  a  large  and  varied  surgical  experience.  The 
work  was  under  the  immediate  supervision  of  the  late  Prof. 
Frank  H.  Hamilton,  and  later,  Prof.  James  R.  Wood 
visiting  surgeons. 

Dr.  Goelet  settled  in  New  York  City  after  completing 
his  hospital  course,  and  for  many  years  engaged  in  gen- 
eral practice,  a  large  proportion  of  which  was  surgery. 
Very  early,  however,  he  became  interested  in  diseases  of 
women  (gynecology)  and  has  made  it  a  specialty.  Through 
the  courtesy  of  Drs.  T.  Gaillard  Thomas,  Thomas  Addis 
Emmet,  and  the  late  Charles  Carrol  Lee,  he  was  enabled 


DR.  AUGUSTIN  H.    GOELET.  373 

to  observe  closely  the  best  operative  work  at  the  Woman's 
Hospital. 

About  the  time  he  became  interested  in  gynecology, 
Dr.  Sims  was  advocating  his  operation  of  division  of  the 
cervix  for  the  relief  of  dysmenorrhea  associated  with 
flexions.  Dr.  Goelet  gave  the  operation  a  fair  trial,  and 
becoming  convinced  that  it  was  unsatisfactory  and  an  un- 
wise procedure,  abandoned  it  in  favor  of  dilatation,  which 
he  upheld  strenuously. 

When,  later,  divulsion  was  being  lauded,  he  opposed  this 
operation  and  entered  a  vigorous  plea  for  moderate  dilata- 
tion and  drainage  by  means  of  a  hard-rubber  tube  as  a 
substitute,  which  was  more  rational  and  more  satisfactory 
in  its  results. 

Dr.  Goelet  has  always  been  an  operator  of  the  most 
conservative  type.  While  he  is  a  strong  advocate  of 
measures  tending  to  effect  a  cure  without  ablation  of 
important  organs,  he  has  perhaps  done  as  many  laparoto- 
mies as  any  gynecologist  not  connected  actively  with  a 
large  hospital,  and  his  results  have  been  excellent.  He 
numbers  two  Caesarean  sections  among  his  achievements. 

Holding  conservative  views  it  was  but  natural  that  he 
should  be  led  to  investigate  the  claims  for  electricity  when 
they  were  put  forth.  He  visited  Paris  for  this  purpose, 
and  after  observing  Apostoli's  work,  became  convinced 
that  there  was  a  great  future  for  electricity.  He  took  it 
up  and  has  won  much  success  and  fame.  He  stands 
to-day  the  acknowledged  leader  in  gynecological  electro- 
therapeutics in  this  country. 

Shortly  after  his  return  from  Europe  he  was  offered  and 
accepted  the  editorship  of  the  Archives  of  Gynecology  and 
Obstetrics,  which  he  retained  for  two  years,  relinquishing 
it  only  to  complete  a  work  upon  Gynecological  Electro- 
therapeutics, which  has  won  him  well-deserved  renown. 

He  was  very  active  in  organizing  the  American  Electro- 
therapeutic  Association,  and  is  one  of  its  founders  and  was 


374 


DR.  HER 31  A XX  J    BOLDT. 


its  third  President.  This  Association,  though  still  young, 
has  attained  phenomenal  success. 

Dr.  Goelet  is  a  Fellow  of  the  New  York  Academy  of 
Medicine,  the  New  York  Obstetrical  Society,  and  the 
Societe  Francais  d'Electrotherapie,  Fellow  and  late  Presi- 
dent of  the  American  Electro-therapeutic  Association. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  American  Medical  Association,  the 
New  York  County  Medical  Society,  the  New  York  County 
Medical  Association.  He  is  also  Gynecologist  to  the  West 
Side  German  Clinic. 

He  has  contributed  liberally  to  medical  journal  litera- 
ture and  has  invented  many  surgical  and  gynecological 
instruments.  His  clinics  and  lectures  at  the  West  Side 
German  Clinic  have  been  largely  attended  by  physicians 
visiting  the  metropolis  for  special  instruction,  and  his 
lectures  have  been  widely  published.  He  is  at  his  best  in 
elucidating  the  technique  of  gynecological  methods. 


HERMANN  J.  BOLDT,  M.D., 

NEW  YORK,  N.    Y. 

Dr.  Hermann  J.  Boldt  when  a  small  child  came  to 
this  country  with  his  parents.  He  was  born  on  June  24, 
1856,  near  Berlin,  at  "Neuentempel,"  the  homestead  of 
his  father,  Hermann  Boldt,  who  was  a  prosperous  and  promi- 
nent agriculturist,  but  lost  his  fortune  by  placing  implicit 
confidence  in  the  honesty  of  a  supposed  friend. 

Dr.  Boldt  obtained  his  early  education  from  private 
tutors,  and  later,  in  the  public  grammar  and  high  schools. 
His  power  of  endurance,  his  indomitable  will  power  that 
knows  no  obstacles,  and  his  wonderful  working  capacity 
have  been  observed  among  his  colleagues  in  his  profession. 
Although  he  has  allowed  himself  but  three  or  four  hours 
sleep  for  years,  so  vigorous  is  his  constitution,  he  does  not 
exhibit  any  ill  effects  from  this  extreme  strain. 


DR.  HERMANN  J.  BOLDT. 


375 


As  his  means  were  limited — not  sufficient  to  allow  him  to 
pursue  his  medical  studies — he  studied  and  practised  phar- 
macy until  he  had  acquired  the  necessary  money  to  enable 
him  to  enter  college.  He  entered  the  University  of  New 
York,  and  was  graduated  from  the  medical  school  with  the 
class  of  1879. 

Prof.  Pallen  early  recognized  his  ability  and  he  became 
his  assistant  at  the  University  Medical  School. 

For  twelve  years  or  more  Dr.  Boldt  had  an  unusually  large 
general  practice,  enabling  him  to  lay  a  broad  foundation 
for  his  life-work  before  devoting  himself  to  gynecology, 
which  he  has  since  made  a  specialty,  and  the  unsurpassed 
success  attending  his  abdominal  operations  justly  entitles 
him  to  the  rank  of  a  distinguished  gynecologist. 

He  probably  has  done  more  gynecological  surgery  (for 
his  years)  than  any  contemporary  surgeon.  He  spends 
three  months  of  his  life  abroad  almost  every  year,  visiting 
the  European  hospitals  and  eminent  colleagues,  and  he 
has  thus  become  familiar  with  the  methods  of  nearly  every 
gynecologist  in  the  world. 

Dr.  Boldt  was  the  first  physician  in  this  country  to 
investigate  the  physiological  action  of  cocaine,  and  is 
quoted  in  Europe  an  authority  on  the  subject.  He  was 
among  the  first  to  remove  the  fibromyomatous  uterus  in 
Mo,  and  is  one  of  the  strongest  advocates  of  vaginal  hys- 
terectomy for  cancer,  and  his  large  experience  with  this 
operation  for  malignant  disease  entitles  his  words  to  be 
considered  authoritatively. 

He  has  invented  a  number  of  gynecological  instruments, 
and  an  operating-table  for  abdominal  surgery,  which  is 
now  in  general  use.  He  is  the  author  of  many  important 
papers.  One  of  these,  on  "  Salpingitis,"  is  quoted  by  most 
authorities  of  the  day ;  in  another,  "  The  Treatment  of 
Suppurative  Disease  of  the  Uterine  Appendages,"  he  de- 
monstrated a  fact  that  has  since  been  universally  accepted, 
that  idiopathic  rupture  is  no  very  rare  occurrence.     Among 


2^6  DR.  HERMANN  J.   BOLDT. 

his  other  writings  are  :  "  The  Advantage  of  doing  Inter- 
mediate Trachelorrhaphy,"  "  Cardiac  Neurosis  due  to 
Uterine  Displacement,"  "Histology  of  the  Uterine  Mu- 
cosa," "Exfoliative  Cystitis,"  "The  Manual  Treatment 
of  Pelvic  Diseases,"  "  The  Treatment  of  Posterior  Displace- 
ment of  the  Uterus,"  "The  Treatment  of  Inoperable 
Cancer  of  the  Uterus,"  and  several  other  articles  of 
importance. 

From  the  commencement  of  Dr.  Boldt's  medical 
career  he  has  at  various  times  filled  many  important  posi- 
tions connected  with  the  medical  profession.  He  soon 
became  instructor  at  the  New  York  Post-Graduate  Medi- 
cal School  and  Hospital.  He  is  at  present  professor  of 
gynecology  there ;  he  is  also  gynecologist  to  the  German 
Poliklinik,  and  to  St.  Mark's  Hospital,  consulting  gyne- 
cologist to  the  Beth  Israel  Hospital,  and  Chairman  of  the 
Section  of  the  New  York  Academy  of  Medicine  which  is 
devoted  to  his  specialty. 

He  is  a  member  of  the  American  Gynecological,  the 
International  Gynecological,  the  British  Gynecological, 
and  the  Obstetrical  and  Pathological  Societies,  and  the 
Academy  of  Medicine. 

In  the  year  1891  Dr.  Boldt  went  abroad  and  was  married 
to  Miss  Hedwig  Kriiger,  the  daughter  of  a  publisher  of 
Berlin. 

Dr.  Boldt  has  risen  rapidly  to  great  distinction  in  his 
profession,  and  he  is  justly  entitled  to  this  well-earned 
reputation.  He  is  a  man  who  is  generous,  and  sincere  in 
his  attachments,  a  charming  and  interesting  friend  to 
those  who  have  the  good  fortune  to  know  him  intimately. 

He  is  comparatively  a  young  man  in  age,  but  old  in  the 
experience  of  his  profession.  We  earnestly  desire  that  he 
may  enjoy  a  long  life,  to  fulfil  his  mission — that  of  healing 
and  relieving  poor  afflicted  woman. 


-"> 


DR.   W.  E.  B.  DAVIS.  377 

W.  E.  B.  DAVIS,  M.D. 

Birmingham,  Ala. 

Dr.  W.  E.  B.  Davis  was  born  November  25th,  1863.  He 
is  a  native  of  the  South.  His  father,  Dr.  Elias  Davis,  was 
a  physician,  as  was  also  his  grandfather  and  great-grand- 
father. His  father  was  killed  in  the  late  Civil  War.  Dr. 
Davis  received  his  early  education  at  Trussville,  Alabama, 
and  afterwards  attended  the  University  of  Alabama. 
After  leaving  the  University  he  attended  medical  lectures 
in  Louisville,  Kentucky,  Nashville,  Tennessee  and  New 
York  City,  and  received  his  medical  degree  from  Bellevue 
Hospital  Medical  College  in  the  year  1884.  He  was 
then  given  a  partnership  with  his  brother,  Dr.  J.  D.  S. 
Davis,  in  Birmingham,  who  had  an  extensive  practice,  and 
after  three  years  of  active  work  he  went  to  Europe,  where 
he  visited  the  hospitals  in  London,  Berlin  and  Vienna,  and 
obtained  much  valuable  information  and  knowledge. 
The  partnership  with  his  brother  still  exists,  and  two  years 
ago  they  established  a  hospital  in  Birmingham  for  the 
diseases  of  women  and  surgical  cases,  which  has  proved 
a  great  success  in  every  way.  Dr.  Davis  does  the  gyne- 
cological work,  and  his  brother  the  general  surgery.  In 
the  year  1891  Dr.  Davis  was  elected  President  of  the  Tri- 
State  Medical  Society  of  Alabama,  Georgia,  and  Tennes- 
see, to  succeed  Dr.  Robert  Battey,  of  Re  me,  Georgia. 
This  is  one  cf  the  leading  medical  societies  in  the  South, 
and  it  is  regarded  as  a  great  compliment  to  be  chosen  to 
its  chief  office.  He  is  at  present  a  member  of  the  Exec- 
utive Council  of  the  Society.  He  has  been  Secretary  of 
the  Surgical  Section  of  the  American  Medical  Association 
and  also  one  of  the  Vice-Presidents  of  the  Association, 
and  he  is  at  present  a  member  of  the  Judicial  Council, 
and   also  a  member  of  the   Executive   Committee  of  the 


3?S  DR.  W.  E.  B.  DAVIS. 

Surgical  Section,  and,  as  such,  a  member  of  the  General 
Business  Committee  of  the  Association.  He  was  one  of 
the  Honorary  Presidents  of  the  Section  of  Abdominal 
Surgery  and  Diseases  of  Women  of  the  first  Pan-American 
Medical  Congress,  which  was  held  in  Washington  City  in 
1893.  He  is  a  Fellow  of  the  American  Association  of 
Obstetricians  and  Gynecologists  and  also  of  the  British 
Gynecological  Society.  He  was  Secretary  of  the  Alabama 
Surgical  and  Gynecological  Association,  an  association 
which  he  and  his  brother  organized,  and  from  this  Associa- 
tion, chiefly  through  his  labors,  was  developed  the  Southern 
Surgical  and  Gynecological  Association,  which  is  one  of 
the  leading  special  societies  of  America.  He  has  filled  the 
position  of  Secretary  of  the  Association  since  its  organiza- 
tion, and  is  editor  of  its  Transactions  and  ex-officio  mem- 
ber of  its  Executive  Council.  This  Association  has  done 
more  toward  giving  the  South  recognition  in  the  medical 
world  than  any  other  organization  in  that  section.  It  has 
no  superior  in  this  country,  and  its  proceedings  are  held 
in  the  highest  esteem  by  the  profession  everywhere.  In- 
deed, the  Association  has  won  a  world-wide  reputation. 
Nearly  every  prominent  surgeon  and  gynecologist  in  the 
South  is  a  member.  However,  it  does  not  limit  its 
membership  to  the  South,  but  receives  members  from 
every  section,  but  it  is  understood  that  its  sessions  are 
to  be  held  in  the  South.  He  was  for  a  time  a  member  of 
the  Surgical  Staff  of  the  Hospital  of  United  Charities  of 
Birmingham,  and  it  was  largely  through  his  efforts  that  the 
Diseases  of  Women  Department  was  established.  He  was 
recently  selected  to  fill  the  Chair  of  Gynecology,  Obstetrics, 
and  Abdominal  Surgery  in  the  Birmingham  Medical 
College,  which  will  enter  upon  its  first  term  in  October. 
This  school  has  an  able  Faculty  and  promises  to  be  one  of 
the  leading  institutions  in  the  South.  It  has  adopted  a 
high  standard  of  requirements,  and  is  abundantly  supplied 


DR.  W.  E.   B.  DAVIS. 


379 


with  every  facility  necessary  for  successful  teaching.  Dr. 
Davis  has  contributed  a  number  of  articles  to  medical 
journals  and  medical  societies  on  abdominal  surgery. 
He  recommended  an  operation  on  the  common  bile  duct, 
which  will,  no  doubt,  be  adopted  largely  by  the  profession. 
He  has  also  modified  the  technique  in  a  number  of  abdom- 
inal and  gynecological  operations.  He  and  his  brother 
edited  the  first  medical  journal  in  Alabama,  and  it  was 
recognized  as  one  of  the  best  monthlies  in  the  South.  He 
afterward  assumed  the  editorship  of  the  Gynecological 
Department  of  the  Alabama  Medical  and  Surgical  Age, 
and  of  which  he  is  still  a  collaborator.  He  is  also  a  col- 
laborator of  some  other  journals.  He  was  an  associate 
editor  of  the  American  Gynecological  Journal  during  its 
publication.  His  surgical  work  has  been  remarkably 
successful,  and  in  the  field  of  abdominal  surgery  he  has 
gained  much  well  deserved  reputation.  As  stated  above, 
his  practice  is  chiefly  devoted  to  gynecological  and  abdom- 
inal work.  His  brother  stands  to-day  as  one  of  the  most 
skilful  surgeons  in  the  South.  He  is  a  very  brilliant 
operator,  and  their  work  has  been  more  successful  by  the 
intimate  association  which  exists  between  them.  Dr.  J. 
D.  S.  Davis  is  the  Professor  of  the  Principles  and  Practice 
of  Surgery  and  Clinical  Surgery  in  the  Birmingham  Medical 
College. 

Dr.  Davis  left  Birmingham  in  1892,  and  went  to 
Rome,  Georgia,  where  he  could  have  a  better  oppor- 
tunity to  do  abdominal  surgery  in  such  an  institution 
as  he  and  Dr.  Holmes  had  in  that  city.  However,  he 
only  remained  away  from  Birmingham  a  few  months — 
after  his  return  he  and  his  brother  established  their  private 
hospital.  When  he  left  Birmingham  for  Rome  the  Ala- 
bama Medical  and  Surgical  Age  stated  that  his  departure 
from  the  State  had  caused  universal  regret,  and  that  he 
did  the  leading  abdominal  surgery  and  diseases  of  women 


38o 


DR.   GEORGE    TUCKER   HARRISON. 


practice  in  Alabama.  And  further,  that  he  had  done  more 
to  advance  abdominal  surgery  in  Alabama  than  any  other 
man  in  the  State.  Another  prominent  journal  in  speaking 
of  him  as  the  Secretary  of  the  Southern  Surgical  and  Gyne- 
cological Association  says  :  "  He  is  about  thirty-five  years 
of  age,  but  does  not  impress  one  in  manner  and  appearance 
as  being  over  twenty-five.  He  is  a  bundle  of  energy,  a 
wiry,  wary  worker.  Any  society  cannot  score  other  than 
a  success  that  has  such  a  man  at  the  helm.  He  stands 
forth  as  a  shining  example  to  the  young  men  of  the  medical 
profession." 

Dr.  Davis  is  unmarried.     His  mother  makes  her  home 
with  him  and  his  brother,  her  only  children. 


GEORGE  TUCKER  HARRISON,  M.D., 

NEW   YORK,  N.  Y. 

Dr.  George  Tucker  Harrison  was  born  at  the  Univer- 
sity of  Virginia,  July  23,  in  the  year  1835,  and  he  is  peculi- 
arly identified  with  that  famous  institution,  founded  by 
Thomas  Jefferson,  and  which  has  been  the  pride  of  the 
entire  South  for  nearly  a  century. 

Dr.  Harrison  belongs  to  one  of  the  oldest  and  most 
aristocratic  Virginia  families. 

He  mourns  the  death  of  a  sainted  Christian  mother, 
who  died  on  the  nth  day  of  March,  1893. 

She  was  "descended  from  the  Washingtons,  the  Lew- 
eses,  the  Carters,  of  Virginia  (all  families  of  great  dis- 
tinction), and,  allied  through  her  father  with  good  old 
English  blood,  she  inherited  and  transmitted  the  gracious 
traditions  of  the  beautiful  old  regime.  She  knew  and  was 
part  of  Virginia  society  at  its  very  best.  But  far  more 
beautiful  and    memorable  were  the   exquisite  purity  and 


-£~&1r&! 


yJcA^a^fee^    v^/tZASi^c^frt*^ 


DR.   GEORGE    TUCKER   HARRISON. 


33l 


gentleness  of  her  nature,  the  charm  of  a  temper  so  sunny, 
and  a  sensibility  so  tender,  that  none  could  fail  to  be  won 
to  love — the  magnanimity  of  a  soul  which  threw  the  illumi- 
nation of  its  own  charity  over  the  foibles  and  failings  of  all 
the  world. 

The  annals  of  the  saints  must  be  searched  for  a  history 
more  lovely  and  more  pure,  a  life  of  religious  consecration 
more  filled  with  Christian  graces. 

In  the  labors  of  charity,  in  the  devotions  of  her  Church, 
in  the  intimacies  of  society,  in  the  sanctities  of  home,  her 
very  being  was  a  living  gospel,  an  irrefutable  testimony  of 
the  sacredness  of  truth.  Such  was  the  beautiful  life  and 
character  of  the  mother  whose  loss  Dr.  Harrison  mourns. 

His  father,  Gessner  Harrison,  and  his  grandfather  on 
his  mother's  side,  George  Tucker,  both  held  professor- 
ships in  the  institution  at  the  time  of  Dr.  Harrison's  birth. 
Both  of  these  gentlemen  were  possessed  of  remarkable 
abilities,  attained  national  reputations,  were  known  to 
eminent  scholars  abroad,  and  were  especially  honored  and 
esteemed  throughout  the  South. 

Gessner  Harrison  was  the  son  of  Dr.  Peachy  Harrison, 
who  was  a  distinguished  physician  of  great  scholarly  attain- 
ments, who  was  a  member  of  the  celebrated  Virginia  Con- 
vention of  1829  and  1830,  and  later  of  the  Virginia  Senate. 
He  was  an  enthusiast  in  the  study  of  languages,  and  at  the 
age  of  twenty- one  years  was  appointed  professor  of  ancient 
languages  in  the  institution  (University  of  Virginia), 
serving  through  a  long  term  of  thirty-one  years,  and 
also  through  along  period  as  Chairman  of  the  Faculty. 
He  was  the  author  of  a  remarkable  Latin  grammar,  an 
exhaustive  and  original  work  on  The  Greek  Prepositions, 
and  a    Geography  of  Ancient  Italy  and  Southern  Greece. 

George  Tucker,  the  maternal  grandfather  of  Dr.  George 
Tucker  Harrison,  was  also  a  man  of  great  force  of  charac- 
ter and  diverse  talents.  He  was  Professor  of  Moral  Phil- 
osophy from  the  inception  of  the  University  till  his  resig- 


3 g2  DR.   GEORGE    TUCKER   HARRISON. 

nation  in  the  year  1845.  While  professor  he  published 
the  well-known  Life  of  Jefferson,  in  two  volumes,  and 
several  works  on  political  economy,  among  them  his  Pro- 
gress in  the  United  States  in  Fifty  Years,  a  pioneer  but 
extended  treatise  of  deduction  from  the  census  reports. 

Like  his  father  before  him,  Dr.  George  Tucker  Harrison 
was  graduated  from  the  University  of  Virginia,  taking  the 
degree  of  M.A.  in  1854.  Two  years  later  he  graduated 
from  the  medical  department  of  the  same  institution. 

He  spent  about  nine  months  following  his  graduation  in 
St.  Joseph's  Hospital,  Philadelphia.  He  then  settled  in 
St.  Louis,  Missouri,  where  he  practised  his  profession  till 
the  certainty  of  secession  suddenly  called  him  to  Virginia. 

Upon  the  outbreak  of  hostilities  between  the  North  and 
the  South  he  offered  his  services  to  his  State.  He  was  ap- 
pointed assistant  surgeon  at  first,  but  very  soon  afterward 
made  surgeon.  He  was  present  under  General  Beaure- 
gard at  the  first  battle  of  Bull  Run,  and  continued  in  the 
service  till  the  close  of  the  war. 

Dr.  Harrison  was  married  in  October  following  the 
close  of  the  late  Civil  War,  and  in  1868  he  removed  to 
New  York  City. 

The  great  Northern  metropolis  afforded  the  most  ade- 
quate field  of  labor  for  a  man  of  ambition  and  high  aspira- 
tions. Yet  the  young  physician  did  not  fail  to  realize  that 
amid  so  great  competition  only  superior  abilities  and 
indomitable  energies  and  will  could  gain  a  foothold  for  u 
Southerner.  But  being  known  to  the  eminent  surgeon, 
Dr.  T.  A.  Emmet,  he  fortunately  secured  through  his 
kindness  a  position  upon  the  house-staff  of  the  Women's 
Hospital,  and  served  the  regular  term  in  that  capacity.  A 
short  time  subsequently  he  was  appointed  assistant  surgeon 
to  the  same  hospital  under  Dr.  Emmet,  serving  for  a  period 
of  fifteen  years.  When  his  term  of  regular  service  on  the 
house-staff  in  the  hospital  had  closed  he  began  the  general 
practice  of  his  profession  on  his  own  account,  making  a 


I 


y 


JT 


2JV2-t//C'£^1^_, 


DR.  ALEXANDER  J.    C.   SKENE.  og. 

specialty  of  gynecology  and  obstetrics,  along  which  lines 
he  is  considered  one  of  the  ablest  physicians  in  the  city. 

While  enjoying  a  very  lucrative  practice,  he  is  known  as 
a  careful  and  conscientious  practitioner  who  is  more  de- 
voted to  medicine  for  the  sake  of  science  than  for  purely 
personal  reasons. 

In  1890  he  was  President  of  the  New  York  County  Medi- 
cal Association,  declining  a  re-nomination  an  account  of  a 
lack  of  time  to  devote  to  the  duties  of  the  position.  In 
1892  he  was  elected  President  of  the  New  York  Obstetrical. 
Society.  He  is  an  honorary  member  of  the  Medical  Society 
of  Virginia,  he  is  a  member  of  the  Obstetrical  Society  of 
New  York,  member  of  the  Academy  of  Medicine,  member 
of  the  New  York  State  Medical  Association,  member  of 
the  New  York  County  Medical  Society,  and  fellow  of  the 
American  Gynecological  Society. 

Dr.  Harrison  has  a  pleasant  home  on  West  Twenty-third 
Street,  and  a  family  of  two  daughters  and  one  son — Gess- 
ner,  named  for  his  grandfather,  who  is  a  graduate  of 
medicine  of  five  years'  standing,  and  was  a  member  of 
the  staff  of  the  Charity  Hospital  of  New  York. 

Dr.  Harrison  is  one  of  the  representative  men  of  the 
Southern  Society,  representing  the  South  not  alone  by 
virtue  of  his  illustrions  ancestry,  but  by  his  own  character- 
istic abilities,  large  hospitality,  and  broad-minded  patri- 
otic sentiment. 


ALEXANDER  J.  C.  SKENE,  M.D., 

BROOKLYN,    N.   Y. 

Dr.  Alexander  J.  C.  Skene,  President  of  the  Long 
Island  College  Hospital,  has  not  only  taken  a  high  position 
in  the  ranks  of  his  profession,  but  is  conceded  to  be  one  of 
the  ablest  gyngecologists  in  the  United  States.     Nor  is  he 


384  DR-  ALEXANDER  J.    C.    SKENE. 

interesting  for  these  considerations  alone,  for  he  shines  as  a 
lover  of  the  fine  arts,  not  altogether  as  an  admirer  of  the 
moment,  but  an  ardent  and  penetrating  student,  and  one 
who  endeavors  to  put  in  practice  the  suggestions  received 
from  his  readings.  Young  men  have  no  greater  friend  than 
Dr.  Skene.  He  has  always  been  careful  to  encourage  talent 
wherever  and  whenever  he  found  it,  and  did  not  at  the 
proper  time  fail  to  tell  others  that  many  a  promising  youth 
was  retarded  by  reason  of  the  ignorance  or  obstinacy  of 
those  to  whom  his  future  was  intrusted.  In  addition,  he 
has  been  in  war  and  in  peace  a  defender  of  the  Union  and 
a  lover  of  the  free  institutions  of  the  country.  A  thorougly 
upright  citizen,  aBrooklynite  in  sympathies,  and  a  courteous 
man  at  all  times,  are  the  striking  traits  of  Dr.  Skene's  per- 
sonality. 

It  is  pleasing  indeed  to  be  able  to  trace  one's  ancestry, 
but  unless  our  ancestors  have  left  the  means  it  becomes  a 
difficult  task,  and  one  in  which  there  is  an  exceeding  ten- 
dency to  arrogate  the  names  of  the  proud,  the  powerful, 
and  the  pretty.  In  these  times,  when  there  is  so  much  of 
the  commonplace  about  men  and  things,  it  is  entertaining, 
at  least,  to  have  one  individual  now  and  then  who  is  capable 
of  going  back  a  few  centuries  and  pointing  out  the  stock 
from  which  he  sprang,  more  particularly  if  such  stock  has 
played  an  important  part  in  the  affairs  of  a  nation  or  the 
world.  A  race  of  warriors,  statesmen,  and  professional  men, 
closely  identified  with  a  great  part  of  the  history  of  Scot- 
land, is  the  family  in  which  the  subject  of  this  sketch  claims 
kindred,  and  which  he  honors  in  no  less  degree  than  any 
of  the  eminent  ones  who  have  gone  before  him.  The  genesis 
of  the  history  of  the  Skenes  begins  with  a  circumstance 
that  would  make  delightful  reading  in  any  novel.  It  ap- 
pears that  when  Malcolm  II.,  king  of  Scotland,  was  return- 
ing from  the  defeat  of  the  Danes  at  Mortloch  in  Moray,  in 
1010,  he  was  pursued  by  a  ravenous  wolf,  which  was  about 
to  attack  him,  when  a  young  son  of  Donald  of  the  Isles 


DR.  ALEXANDER  J.    C.    SKENE.  385 

thrust  his  arm,  which  was  wrapt  iri  the  plaid,  into  the 
wolf's  mouth,  and  with  his  dagger  slew  the  beast.  The 
king,  appreciating  the  boldness  of  the  action,  gave  to  the 
young  man  certain  lands  which  now  form  the  parish  of 
Skene,  in  Aberdeenshire.  This  incident  gave  rise  to  the 
family  name,  Sgian,  which  means  a  dagger,  or  a  dirk,  and 
which  occupies,  together  with  three  wolves'  heads,  a  very 
conspicuous  place  in  the  family's  armorial  bearings.  John 
de  Skene,  in  the  thirteenth  century,  joined  the  forces  of 
the  usurper,  Donald  Bain,  but  afterward  proved  his  loyalty 
to  his  king,  Alexander,  and  was  forthwith  restored  to  the 
royal  favor.  His  great-grandson,  John,  who  lived  during 
the  reign  of  Alexander  III,  was  so  well  informed  politi- 
cally and  so  esteemed  for  his  impartial  virtue  as  to  be 
chosen  one  of  the  arbiters  between  Bruce  and  Balial,  both 
of  whom  were  contestants  for  the  crown.  A  grandson, 
Robert  de  Skene,  was  a  firm  friend  of  Bruce,  fought  at 
Bannockburn,  and  received  a  charter  from  his  leader  in 
1318.  Coming  down  through  the  centuries,  we  find 
Alexander  Skene  fighting  at  the  side  of  King  James  during 
the  horrible  battle  of  Flodden ;  and  later  we  see  James 
Skene,  his  direct  descendant,  leading  the  charges  at  the 
battle  of  Pinkie,  where  he  fell,  in  1547.  Major  George 
Skene  distinguished  himself  under  the  Duke  of  Marl- 
borough in  the  wars  that  were  fought  during  the  reign  of 
Queen  Anne,  and  in  1720  purchased  the  estate  of  Cares- 
ton  in  Forforshire.  Two  more  Skenes  were  soldiers,  and 
died  fighting,  one  in  Spain  and  another  at  the  battle  of 
Preston,  in  1745. 

While  in  the  early  history  of  the  Skene  family  we  find 
warriors  plentiful,  it  must  be  remembered  that  there  were 
litterateurs  and  lawyers  also,  though  their  attainments  did 
not  shine  with  the  lustre  of  the  martial  doings,  a  fact  that 
was  owing,  in  a  great  measure,  to  the  turbulent  condition 
of  the  times.  However,  at  a  later  date,  the  non-martial 
of  the  Skenes  found  fame  and  fortune  in  the  pursuance  of 

25 


336 


DR.   T.   G.  RICHARDSON. 


In  1S77  ne  was  elected  president  of  the  American 
Medical  Association,  at  its  annual  meeting  in  Chicago, 
and  presided  at  the  subsequent  meeting  in  Buffalo, 
X.  Y. 

For  a  number  of  years  he  devoted  the  summer  months 
to  travel.  He  travelled  over  all  the  ground  usually  cov- 
ered by  tourists,  and  besides  a  large  amount  of  territory 
not  often  visited  by  them.  He  crossed  the  Atlantic  many 
times  :  spent  two  summers  in  Mexico  ;  ascended  the  Ama- 
zon ;  scaled  the  Andes  ;  visited  the  Sandwich  Islands,  and 
went  up  and  down  his  own  country  until  no  place  of  im- 
portance had  been  left  unseen.  In  all  of  his  journeyings 
he  was  accompanied  by  his  devoted  wife ;  she  was  one  of 
the  three  ladies  who  first  looked  down  into  the  crater  of 
Popocatapetl. 

In  addition  to  the  literary  productions  mentioned,  Dr. 
Richardson  contributed  a  number  of  articles  to  the  New 
Orleans  Medical  and  Surgical  Journal  and  the  Medical 
News  and  Library  of  Philadelphia.  He  also  wrote  a  life 
of  the  distinguished  anatomist  and  naturalist,  Professor 
John  D.  Godman.  He  was  a  corresponding  member  of 
the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  of  Philadelphia 
and  of  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences,  Philadelphia, 
and  an  active  member  of  the  Louisiana  State  and  the 
Orleans  Parish  Medical  Society  (representative  men  of  the 
South). 

For  many  years  Professor  Richardson  was  a  member  and 
elder  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  counting  its  pastor, 
Dr.  B.  M.  Palmer,  among  his  most  valued  friends. 

Dr.  Richardson  was  married  twice.  His  first  wife  was 
the  daughter  of  Professor  Charles  W.  Short,  M.D.,  of 
Kentucky.  Three  children  blessed  this  marriage.  A  tragic 
fate  overtook  the  mother  and  children.  They  were  on  a 
steamboat  coming  down  the  Mississippi  to  join  him;  the 
boat  sank,  and  among  the  victims  were  Dr.  Richardson's 
wife  and  children. 


DR.   T.   G.  RICHARDSON. 


337 


His  second  wife  was  Miss  Ida  Slocomb,  daughter  of 
Mrs.  Cora  A.  Slocomb,  who  survives  him. 

As  an  administrator  of  the  Tulane  University,  from  its 
origin  in  1884,  he  was  zealous  in  behalf  of  the  Medical 
Department,  and  secured  for  it  important  benefits.  He 
never  failed  to  encourage  and  aid  his  successor  in  every- 
thing calculated  to  promote  the  welfare  of  the  college ; 
and  the  very  last  official  letter,  written  two  years  after  his 
retirement  from  active  service,  to  the  Dean  of  the  Medical 
Department,  proved  conclusively  his  unalterable  devotion 
to  his  beloved  college  and  his  judicious  and  generous  appre- 
ciation of  its  needs.  In  this  memorable  letter  of  March  3, 
1891,  Dr.  Richardson  wrote:  "I  am  authorized  by  Mrs. 
Richardson  to  place  at  your  disposal  $50,000  for  the  erec- 
tion of  a  building  for  laboratories  of  chemistry,  physiology, 
pathological  anatomy,  microscopy,  etc.,  and  for  suitable 
anatomical  rooms,  provided  that  for  this  purpose  the  Fac- 
ulty can  obtain  from  the  administrators  of  the  Tulane 
University  of  Louisiana  either  of  the  two  lots  contiguous 
to  the  building  of  the  Medical  Department ;  work  upon 
the  new  building  to  be  begun  within  a  year  of  this 
date." 

The  Medical  Faculty  replied,  March  6,  1891,  as  fol- 
lows :  "The  generous  and  philanthropic  offer  of  Mrs. 
Richardson  to  contribute  $50,000  for  the  building  of  labor- 
atories, on  which  now  depend  the  future  progress  and 
prosperity  of  the  Medical  Department,  is  most  gratefully 
accepted.  In  addition  to  the  respect,  affection,  and  ad- 
miration that  her  gentle  and  noble  character  arouses  in  all 
who  know  her,  Mrs.  Richardson  has  by  this  act  deserved 
the  profound  and  lasting  gratitude  of  all  who  have  at  heart 
the  welfare  of  New  Orleans,  the  relief  of  human  suffering, 
and  the  gratitude  especially  of  those  on  whom  is  imposed 
the  duty  of  promoting  the  prosperity  of  the  Medical 
Department. 

"Professor  T.    G.    Richardson,   M.D.,   for  very  many 


,88  DR-  ALEXANDER  J.    C.    SKENE. 

of  diseases,  which  accounts  in  part  for  the  varied  and  exten- 
sive character  of  his  knowledge  to-day  on  all  things  medical. 
He  is  a  keen-eyed  individual,  whose  glance  does  not  miss 
the  least  visible  details,  but  is  kind  and  gentle  in  manner 
and  a  most  charming  companion  when  he  grows  reminis- 
cent. Dr.  Skene  has  no  superior,  it  is  fair  to  say,  in  the 
matter  of  diagnosing  a  case.  That  has  always  been  his 
forte,  though  it  must  be  said  in  addition  that  few  men  are 
able  to  control  instruments  with  the  same  deft  hand.  All 
readers  of  medical  journals  have  invariably  met  his  con- 
tributions, which  have  always  been  characterized  by  their 
abundance  of  thought  and  nice  easy  style.  He  is  the 
author  of  the  admittedly  best  work  ever  written  on  the 
diseases  of  women.  It  was  published  by  Appleton  in  1883, 
and  contains  choice  cullings  of  twenty  years'  experience. 
The  book  has  had  a  vast  circulation,  and  was  lauded  by 
the  medical  authorities  of  Europe  as  liberally  as  it  was 
here.  In  addition  to  being  president  of  the  Long  Island 
Medical  College  he  also  occupies  the  chair  of  gynecology. 
He  was  formerly  professor  of  gynecology  in  the  New  York 
Post-Graduate  Medical  School ;  president  of  the  American 
Gynecological  Society,  of  the  Kings  County  Medical 
Society,  and  the  New  York  Obstetrical  Society;  and  is 
corresponding  member  of  the  British,  Boston,  Detroit, 
and  Belgian  Gynecological  Societies. 

Apart  from  Dr.  Skene's  conquests  in  medicine  there  is 
another  side  to  his  career  that  may  be  information  for  the 
readers,  as  it  is  entertainment  for  him — he  is  a  sculptor; 
an  amateur  sculptor,  in  the  terms  of  his  own  modesty. 
When  at  leisure,  which  is  not  often,  he  delights  in  mudding. 
He  is  also  something  of  a  litterateur,  having  read  exten- 
sively and  written  for  magazines  on  hundreds  of  subjects. 
He  lives  in  a  modest  house  on  Clinton  and  State  Streets. 
He  drives  a  great  deal  and  thoroughly  enjoys  life,  always 
preserving  the  best  of  health.  He  is  a  large  man  of  fine 
physique  and  wears  a  black  mustache  and  beard.  He  is 
still  in  the  flush  of  ambition  and  of  life. 


DR.  JOSEPH  EDWARD  JANVRIN.  389 

JOSEPH   EDWARD   JANVRIN,  M.D., 

NEW    YORK,    N.    Y. 

Dr.  Joseph  Edward  Janvrin  was  born  at  Exeter, 
N.  H.,  January  13,  in  the  year,  1839.  He  is  descended 
from  John  Janvrin,  who  came  from  the  Isle  of  Jersey  in 
1705,  and  located  at  Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  marrying  a  Miss 
Knight  of  that  place.  Dr.  Janvrin's  father,  Joseph  Adams 
Janvrin,  and  his  mother,  Lydia  A.  Colcord,  were  both  of 
Exeter.  He  is  a  lineal  descendant  of  the  historical  Adams 
family  of  Quincy,  Mass.  His  grandmother,  Abigail  Adams 
Janvrin,  was  the  daughter  of  Dr.  Joseph  Adams,  of  Ports- 
mouth, N.  H.,  a  cousin  of  President  John  Adams. 

Dr.  Janvrin  was  graduated  from  Phillips  Exeter  Academy, 
and  is  now  President  of  the  Alumni  Association  of  that 
famous  institution.  Like  many  of  our  professional  men, 
he  spent  some  time  in  teaching,  but  teaching  did  not 
satisfy  him,  and  he  soon  decided  upon  medicine  as  his  life 
work.  He  began  to  study  in  1859,  at  Exeter,  under  Dr. 
William  G.  Perry.  He  was  thus  engaged  until  the  spring 
of  1 86 1,  when  upon  the  breaking  out  of  the  Civil  War  he 
joined  the  2d  New  Hampshire  Regiment,  the  first  three- 
year  regiment  from  that  State,  and  was  shortly  afterward 
appointed  Assistant  Surgeon.  He  remained  in  the  service 
until  August,  1863,  and  during  the  last  few  months  of  his 
service  was  Acting  Surgeon  of  the  15th  Regiment  of  New 
Hampshire  Voluntetrs.  He  returned  home  and  attended 
a  course  of  lectures  in  the  Medical  Department  of  Dart- 
mouth, at  the  same  time  becoming  a  pupil  of  Prof.  E.  R. 
Peaslee,  at  the  time  one  of  the  Faculty  of  the  College. 

In  the  autumn  of  1863  Dr.  Janvrin  came  to  New  York 
and  graduated  from  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Sur- 
geons in  1864.  In  January,  1865,  he  entered  private 
practice  with   his  former   preceptor,   Dr.   Peaslee.      This 


390  DR.  JOSEPH  EDWARD  JANVRIN. 

association  continued  until  the  death  of  Dr.  Peaslee  in 
January,  1878. 

From  1868  until  1872  Dr.  Janvrin  held  the  position  of 
Visiting  Physician  to  the  Department  of  Heart  and  Lung 
Diseases  in  the  Demilt  Dispensary.  In  1872  he  was  ap- 
pointed Assistant  Surgeon  to  the  Woman's  Hospital  in 
the  State  of  New  York,  which  position  he  held  until  1882, 
when  he  was  appointed  to  fill  the  position  of  Gynecologist 
to  the  New  York  Skin  and  Cancer  Hospital.  Dr.  Janvrin's 
practice  has  been  principally  in  the  surgical  field  of 
gynecology. 

Although  a  constant  and  zealous  worker  and  practitioner, 
he  has  found  time  to  contribute  many  valuable  papers  to 
the  medical  press  upon  subjects  connected  with  this  branch 
of  surgery.  Among  them  :  "A  Case  of  Interstitial  Preg- 
nancy," American  Joui'nal  of  Obstetrics  (New  York,  No- 
vember, 1874);  "The  Simultaneous  Closure  of  the  Rup- 
tured Cervix  and  Perineum;  Report  of  Fifteen  Cases," 
American  Journal  of  Obstetrics  (May,  1884);  "A  Case  of 
Tubal  Pregnancy  of  Unusual  Interest,  with  some  Remarks 
as  to  the  Treatment  of  such  Cases,"  Transactions  of  the 
American  Gynecological  Association  for  1886;  "On  the 
Indications  for  Primary  Laparotomy  in  Cases  of  Tubal 
Pregnancy"  (Same  for  1888);  "A  Clinical  Study  of 
Primary  Carcinomatous  and  Sarcomatous  Neoplasms  be- 
tween the  Folds  of  the  Broad  Ligaments,  with  a  Report 
of  Cases"  (Same  for  1891)  ;  "On  the  Limitations  for  Va- 
ginal Hysterectomy  in  Malignant  Disease  of  the  Uterus," 
Medical  Record  (New  York,  July  9,  1892);  "Vaginal 
Hysterectomy  for  Malignant  Disease  of  the  Uterus," 
Journal  of  Gynecology  and  Obstetrics  (New  York,  Septem- 
ber, 1892);  "  The  Palliative  Treatment  of  such  Cases  of 
Malignant  Disease  of  the  Uterus  and  Adnexa  as  are  not 
amenable  to  Radical  Operations,"  GaillarcTs  Medical 
Journal  (New  York,  January,  1893);  and  several  others 
on  kindred  subjects. 


DR.  JOSEPH  EDWARD  JANVRIN.  -ygi 

Many  of  these  papers  were  decidedly  in  advance  of 
contemporary  medical  thought,  and  established  the  repu- 
tation of  Dr.  Janvrin  as  a  leading  specialist  of  his  time. 

The  articles  bearing  upon  "Primary  Laparotomy  in 
Cases  of  Tubal  Pregnancy"  were  quoted  extensively  in 
the  medical  journals  both  of  this  country  and  abroad,  and 
due  credit  has  been  given  to  Dr.  Janvrin,  not  only  for  his 
persistence  in  recommending  the  operation  at  so  early  a 
date,  but  also  for  his  successful  performance  of  it  in  quite 
a  number  of  cases. 

Since  the  Doctor's  paper  and  the  report  of  his  cases  the 
"  primary  "  operation  has  been  pretty  universally  accepted 
by  the  profession. 

The  Doctor  is  a  member  of  the  following  New  York 
societies  :  Academy  of  Medicine,  County  Medical  Society, 
County  Medical  Association,  State  Medical  Association, 
and  the  New  York  Obstetrical  Society,  of  which  he  has 
been  president  for  two  years.  He  is  also  a  member  of  the 
American  Gynecological  Association,  American  Medical 
Association,  and  corresponding  member  of  the  Gyneco- 
logical Society  of  Boston. 

Dr.  Janvrin  married  Miss  Laura  L.  Lawall,  of  Easton, 
Pa.,  September  i,  1881. 

It  is  a  pleasure  to  meet  Dr.  Janvrin  in  his  delightful  city 
home,  and  to  come  under  the  influence  of  his  quiet  cour- 
tesy and  kindly  consideration. 


392  DR.  MALCOLM  MCLEAN. 

MALCOLM  McLEAN,  M.D., 

NEW  YORK,  N.  Y. 

Dr.  Malcolm  McLean  is  the  third  son  of  the  late 
George  W.  and  Rebecca  J.  McLean,  the  former  a  native 
of  New  York  City,  and  son  of  Gen.  John  McLean,  who 
was  Commissary-General  under  Governor  Clinton,  of  New 
York,  and  an  officer  in  the  American  Revolution.  Mrs. 
McLean  was  the  daughter  of  James  McCormick,  Esq.,  of 
Baltimore,  a  wealthy  merchant  of  that  city,  and  whose 
estate  included  the  land  upon  which  the  Johns  Hopkins 
Hospital  now  stands. 

Dr.  McLean's  father  was  a  graduate  of  West  Point  Mili- 
tary Academy  in  1818,  and  served  in  the  Florida  and 
Civil  Wars.  His  mother  was  a  lady  distinguished  for  her 
sterling  qualities  as  a  wife  and  mother,  as  well  as  for  her 
very  high  intellectual  attainments.  She  was  a  most  care- 
ful and  experienced  reader,  and  had  great  ability  as  a 
writer,  and  commanded  the  love  and  admiration  of  those 
who  were  brought  within  the  circle  of  her  influence. 

Having  expressed  a  great  desire  that  some  of  her  sons 
should  adopt  the  learned  professions,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch  decided  to  join  the  ranks  of  medicine. 

He  was  born  at  Rah  way,  New  Jersey,  April  18,  1848, 
and  received  his  early  education  in  the  schools  of  Eliza- 
beth, N.  J.,  completing  his  preparatory  course  for  entrance 
to  Princeton  College  in  the  Classical  School  of  Mr.  John 
Young,  of  that  city. 

As  a  scholar  he  showed  special  taste  and  ability  for  ac- 
quiring the  languages,  and  excelled  in  physics,  chemistry 
and  physiology.  In  the  latter  study  his  proficiency  was  so 
marked  that  the  teacher  always  employed  him  to  make  the 
drawings  and  other  demonstrations  for  the  class. 


DR.  MALCOLM  MCLEAN. 


39: 


On  the  breaking  out  of  the  Civil  War  his  plans  for  life 
were  materially  interrupted,  it  becoming  necessary  for  him 
to  abandon  the  idea  of  taking  the  course  at  Princeton. 

Entering  a  large  drug  store,  he  was  soon  put  in  charge 
of  the  laboratory,  and  took  a  prominent  part  in  compound- 
ing prescriptions.  The  character  of  his  work  in  this 
department  attracted  the  attention  of  the  late  Dr.  Lewis 
Oakley,  who  prevailed  upon  him  to  enter  at  once  upon 
the  regular  study  of  medicine.  While  studying  in  Dr. 
Oakley's  office  young  McLean  showed  qualities  which 
gave  promise  of  a  career  far  above  mediocrity  in  his  pro- 
fession. At  the  age  of  seventeen  he  manually  compressed 
the  femoral  artery  during  high  amputation  of  the  thigh, 
and  on  several  occasions  gave  evidence  of  considerable 
surgical  skill. 

In  1866  he  entered  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Sur- 
geons of  New  York,  and  made  rapid  progress  in  his  studies. 
In  the  public  Quiz  Classes  of  the  College  he  acquitted 
himself  with  great  credit,  and  on  one  occasion  he  was 
called  up  in  the  lecture-room  for  a  special  compliment  by 
the  late  Prof.  Willard  Parker. 

In  1868  he  was  a  successful  competitor  for  the  position 
of  Junior  Assistant  on  the  Staff  of  Bellevue  Hospital,  and 
during  his  service  on  the  Second  Surgical  Division  was 
associated  with  Drs.  McBurney,  Polk,  Wylie,  Bronson  and 
others  who  have  attained  eminence  in  their  profession. 

At  that  date  the  maternity  was  connected  with  the  Hos- 
pital ;  and  in  this  service  Dr.  McLean  showed  such  pecu- 
lsar  zeal  and  aptness  in  his  work  as  to  attract  the  attention 
of  Drs.  Fordyce  Barker  and  Geo.  T.  Elliot,  who  were  the 
Visiting  Obstetricians  in  the  service.  Dr.  Elliot  intrusted 
to  Dr.  McLean  a  series  of  experiments  with  the  then  new 
remedy,  chloral,  and,  in  a  paper  read  before  the  Medical 
Society,  gave  him  credit  for  his  service  in  a  very  compli- 
meatary  manner. 

At  the  termination    of  the  house  service  in  Bellevue 


394  DR-  MALCOLM  MCLEAN. 

Hospital,  Prof.  Elliot  urged  the  young  surgeon  to  under- 
take the  course  at  the  Woman's  Hospital;  but  unfortu- 
nately the  Commissioners  of  Public  Charities  and  Correc- 
tions had  selected  Dr.  McLean  for  their  Examining  Physician 
for  the  ensuing  year,  an  office  which  he  filled  with  marked 
ability. 

In  1870  he  opened  his  office  for  private  practice  in  the 
northern  limits  of  the  city,  and  soon  became  well  known 
and  popular  in  professional  circles. 

By  training  and  disposition  he  seemed  destined  to  be- 
come a  general  surgeon,  and  during  the  first  five  years  of 
his  practice  he  performed  some  difficult  operations. 

In  obstetries  his  success  was  marked,  and  at  an  early 
date  he  was  called  upon  by  neighboring  practitioners  for 
counsel  and  assistance  in  complicated  cases. 
■  In  1873  ne  went  to  Europe,  and  spent  the  season  in 
visiting  the  hospitals  and  universities  of  the  large  cities. 

In  1875  Dr.  McLean  married  Mary  Permelia,  the  only 
daughter  of  Dr.  Geo.  W.  Jewett,  of  New  York,  and  has 
two  sons  and  one  daughter. 

After  eight  or  ten  years  of  very  busy  general  practice, 
Dr.  McLean's  reputation  as  an  obstetrician  and  gynecologist 
had  begun  to  have  the  effect  of  bringing  to  his  office  many 
cases  of  diseases  peculiar  to  women,  and  thenceforward  he 
devoted  himself  with  great  earnestness  to  that  branch  of 
medicine.  He  has  written  many  papers  bearing  upon  ob- 
stetrics and  gynecology,  some  of  which  have  been  well 
received  and  reproduced  in  foreign  cities.  His  articles 
on  "The  Management  of  Placenta  Prsevia,"  "The  Occi- 
pito-Posterior  Positions,"  and  "Conservatism  in  Gyne- 
cology" have  been  particularly  noticed,  as  also  "Some 
Remarks  on  the  Misapplication  of  the  Obstetric  Forceps." 
He  also  has  written  a  valuable  contribution  to  the  subjects 
of  "  Extra-Uterine  Pregnancy"  and  "Rupture  of  the 
Uterus." 

Dr.  McLean  is  the  inventor  of  a  female  catheter  which 


DR.  MALCOLM  MC LEAN. 


395 


is  probably  the  best  instrument  of  its  kind  in  use.  He  also 
has  devised  a  valuable  modification  of  Barnes'  dilators 
and  many  other  useful  instruments. 

For  the  past  ten  years  he  has  been  a  very  successful  and 
busy  operator  in  private  and  hospital  practice,  his  time 
being  largely  engaged  in  the  work  of  his  private  hospital 
and  of  the  St.  Andrew's  Infirmary  for  Women,  in  New 
York,  which  latter  institution  owes  its  origin  to  his  personal 
efforts.  Among  his  important  cases  may  be  noted  several 
very  large  fibroids  and  sarcomata  of  the  ovaries;  a  case 
of  extra-uterine  pregnancy,  operated  on  at  the  twelfth 
month ;  a  case  of  rupture  of  the  uterus,  etc. 

He  has  reported  several  very  singular  cases  in  obstetrics, 
among  which  may  be  noted  "A  Case  of  the  Child  Crying 
in  Utero,"  and  "The  Conversion  of  a  Face  Presentation 
into  a  Vertex  by  Rotation  within  the  Pelvis." 

Dr.  McLean  is  a  careful  laparotomist,  and  is  one  of  the 
most  cautious  of  operators.  His  list  of  cases  covers  nearly 
all  the  diseases  calling  for  these  operations.  Another 
writer — an  eminent  medical  authority — has  said  of  him, 
"  he  is  a  careful,  conscientious  surgeon,  slow  to  have  re- 
course to  the  knife,  but  skilful  in  its  use — a  practical, 
thorough  physician." 

The  Doctor  has  filled  the  office  of  Vice-President  of  the 
New  York  Obstetrical  Society,  and  is  at  the  time  of  this 
writing  Chairman  of  the  Obstetric  Section  of  the  Academy 
of  Medicine,  New  York.  He  is  Consulting  Gynecologist 
to  the  Randall's  Island  Hospitals  and  Surgeon-in-charge 
of  the  St.  Andrew's  Infirmary  for  Women. 

Dr.  McLean  is  a  clear  speaker,  going  straight  to  the  point 
in  debate  with  concise  and  logical  argument.  He  is  not  a 
fluent  writer,  but  his  papers  are  carefully  prepared  and  are 
eminently  practical. 

He  has  devoted  considerable  research  to  the  subject  of 
archaeology,  and  he  has  earned  an  enviable  reputation  as  an 
Egyptologist  and  Bible  student. 


396  DR.  JOSEPHINE  GRIFFITH  DAVIS. 

Physically,  the  Doctor  is  short  of  stature,  with  a  strong, 
athletic  frame.  He  is  of  very  abstemious  habits,  and  is 
exceedingly  fond  of  field  sports.  He  is  an  expert  with 
the  rifle,  and  is  one  of  the  finest  archers  in  the  country, 
while  his  reputation  as  a  surf  swimmer  is  equal  to  the  best. 

In  his  intercourse  with  patients  and  fellow-physicians 
alike  he  is  courteous,  frank  and  true  ;  and  while  he  is 
quick  to  repel  a  wrong,  he  is  lenient  as  a  critic  and  faith- 
ful to  every  obligation  as  a  friend. 

The  Doctor  is  a  member  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church,  and  is  a  regular  attendant  at  the  services. 


JOSEPHINE    GRIFFITH    DAVIS,  M.D., 

NEW   YORK,  N.  Y. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  awakens  a  genuine  interest 
in  all  who  are  watching  the  progress  of  human  society, 
and  especially  the  social  progress  of  women.  She  was 
born  in  Washington,  Washington  County,  Pa.,  the  eldest 
of  nine  children.  Her  ancestors  on  her  father's  side  were 
Welsh  Quakers,  three  of  them  having  come  to  this  country 
with  William  Penn.  On  her  mother's  side  they  were 
Welsh  and  German.  From  such  ancestry  she  inherited 
strong  physical  and  mental  qualities. 

From  a  child  she  was  fond  of  study,  and  from  her 
father,  who  was  a  physician,  she  apparently  inherited  a 
passionate  fondness  for  the  study  of  medicine.  There 
came  to  her  also  an  experience  in  her  childhood  well 
calculated  to  prepare  her  for  her  subsequent  life-work, 
the  constant  care  of  the  younger  children  of  the  family. 
The  good  people  of  little  Washington,  to  whom  she  was 
very  dear  as  a  child,  remember  her  as  a  nurse  almost 
always  carrying  an  infant  in  her  arms,  or  in  some  way  min- 
istering affectionately  to  its  wants.    In  this  way  Josephine 


SfatrCJ  0/.%. 


DR.  JOSEPHINE  GRIFFITH  DA  VIS. 


397 


was  hindered  from  attending  school  as  she  desired,  but 
nothing  could  repress  her  ardor  for  study.  As  far  as 
possible  she  attended  the  public  schools  of  her  native 
place. 

Washington  is  known  widely  as  the  seat  of  several  edu- 
cational institutions,  chief  among  them  Washington  and 
Jefferson  College,  and  an  excellent  female  seminary. 
The  late  Alexander  M.  Gow,  a  prominent  educator  in 
Western  Pennsylvania,  early  took  a  deep  interest  in  the 
child's  welfare,  and  it  is  to  him  more,  perhaps,  than  to 
any  other  person,  as  she  feels,  that  she  owes  her  success 
in  obtaining  an  education.  As  she  evinced  marked  ability 
in  study,  as  superintendent  of  schools  and  principal  of  the 
high  school  he  saw  to  it  that  she  was  allowed  to  pass  on 
from  grade  to  grade  as  she  made  progress  without  waiting 
for  her  less  proficient  classmates.  It  was  he  who  first  in- 
cited her  to  become  a  teacher.  She  received  a  No.  i  cer- 
tificate from  the  high  school,  and  having  her  choice  to 
enter  the  seminary  in  town  or  attend  the  normal  school, 
now  the  "Southwestern  Normal  School,"  located  at  Cali- 
fornia, Pa.;  she  choose  the  latter.  In  this  school  she  re- 
ceived the  highest  certificate  of  proficiency,  and  after  her 
first  year  of  teaching  a  permanent,  or  "professional," 
certificate,  the  highest  then  conferred. 

Her  first  year  as  a  teacher  was  spent  in  a  rural  district, 
and  was  followed  by  three  years  in  the  public  schools  of 
Monongahela  City,  Pa.,  where  she  achieved  signal  success. 
She  cherishes  these  years  as  among  the  most  delightful  of 
her  life.  With  high  ideals  of  a  teacher's  mission,  she  loved 
her  work  and  threw  her  whole  soul  into  it  to  realize  it. 

Subsequently  she  was  married  to  Mr.  F.  A.  Davis,  of 
Ohio.  Three  children  were  the  fruit  of  this  union,  all  of 
whom  died  in  early  infancy.  The  next  step  in  her  career 
is  accounted  for  by  one  of  her  friends  by  saying  :  "  The 
mother  bird  with  an  empty  nest  and  active  brain  must 
find  something  to  occupy  her  faculties."     Fond  of  teach- 


308  DR.  JOSEPHINE  GRIFFITH  DA  VIS. 

ing  she  choose  medicine,  in  which  she  had  always  been 
greatly  interested,  as  that  profession  in  which  she  could 
still  be  a  teacher  in  a  broader  field. 

In  1873  sne  began  the  study  of  her  profession  under  the 
direction  of  a  special  instructor.  Later  she  spent  one  year 
in  an  eclectic  school.  But  feeling  that  she  must  have  more 
than  this  school  could  give  she  entered  the  Woman's 
Medical  College  of  Pennsylvania  in  Philadelphia,  the  best 
equipped  medical  college  for  women  in  existence.  Here 
she  bent  all  her  energies  to  her  work  and  completed  the 
course  of  training  in  the  college  with  eminent  success, 
graduating  in   1877. 

Dr.  Davis  immediately  entered  the  Woman's  Hospital  as 
an  interne  under  the  tutelage  of  Dr.  Anna  E.  Broomall,  the 
resident  physician.  This  also  proved  to  be  a  privilege  of 
great  value  to  her.  She  began  her  independent  practice  in 
Philadelphia,  remaining  there  about  three  years,  spending 
her  summers  at  Long  Branch,  N.  J.  She  thus  became  ac- 
quainted with  many  New  Yorkers,  and  was  finally  induced 
to  settle  in  the  city  of  New  York.  During  the  summer  of 
1 89 1  she  was  occupied  with  hospital  service  in  Brooklyn. 
To  her  work  in  New  York  she  brought  the  untiring  zeal 
and  earnestness  of  purpose  that  have  characterized  her 
whole  life,  the  rule  of  which  has  ever  been  fidelity  to 
principle  coupled  with  unflinching  integrity  of  purpose. 

Dr.  Davis  is  a  member  of  the  American  Medical  Asso- 
ciation, New  York  State  Medical  Association,  and  of  the 
New  York  County  Medical  Association,  having  the  honor 
of  being  the  only  woman  member  in  the  latter.  She  is 
also  a  member  of  the  American  Electro-therapeutic  Asso- 
ciation, and  of  the  Alumnae  Association  of  the  Woman's 
Medical  College  of  Pennsylvania.  To  honor  her  Alma 
Mater  has  been  one  of  the  ambitions  of  her  life. 

Among  her  associates  in  the  medical  profession  she  is 
known  as  an  intelligent,  tireless  worker  in  the  interest  of 
her  patients,  and  a  physician  of   almost  unbounded  re- 


'^'k}: 


: 


^^^^m 


-%i£:~.:~   : 


J/%^^^i.^^^_ 


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DR.  JOSEPHINE   GRIFFITH  DA  VIS. 


399 


sources.  She  at  the  same  time  regards  every  success  she 
wins  as  so  much  gained  for  the  advancement  of  her  sex. 

Hindered  through  her  entire  youth  by  adverse  circum- 
stances, which  only  such  resolution  as  hers  could  have 
overcome,  she  has  been  handicapped  in  her  medical  career 
by  the  breaking  of  both  her  limbs,  one  of  them  twice. 
This  has  restricted  her  practice  largely  to  chronic  diseases, 
or  those  which  did  not  demand  much  emergency  work. 
Her  practice,  while  extensive  as  a  general  one,  has  become 
largely  gynaecological  and  in  difficulties  of  the  pelvic 
organs.  As  an  obstetrician  she  aims  to  minimize  the 
dangers  attendant  upon  maternity  by  teaching  her  patients 
how  to  live  and  to  become  in  every  respect  successful 
mothers.  She  has  written  some  able  articles  on  this  and 
other  subjects,  one  on  the  "  Use  of  Methyl-violet  in  Malig- 
nant Disease,"  and  one  on  the  "  Uric  Acid  Diathesis  and 
Electricity  in  its  Treatment,"  which  have  recently  attracted 
wide  attention. 

A  grateful  patient  and  friend,  himself  a  journalist, 
speaks  thus  enthusiastically,  but  we  believe  justly,  of  her: 
"  Dr.  Davis  has  a  personality  that  at  once  impresses  itself 
on  all  with  whom  she  comes  in  contact.  She  possesses 
that  subtle  something  that  immediately  secures  the  con- 
fidence of  her  patients,  so  that  without  hesitancy  they  in- 
trust her  with  their  inmost  secrets,  assured  that  their  trust 
will  in  no  wise  ever  be  betrayed.  She  seems  endowed 
with  .a  power  of  diagnosis  that  is  like  the  X  ray.  Her 
ideals  and  aims  are  high,  in  intellect  she  is  strong,  in  pro- 
fessional learning  broad,  in  temperament  a  true  woman, 
cheerful  and  hopeful.  She  is  an  honor  to  her  profession, 
and  will  leave  the  world  the  better  for  having  lived  in  it."1 

[!  Written  by  Rev.  George  B.  Gow,  D.D.,  Poughkeepsie,  N.  Y.— The 
Author.] 


400  DR-  J-   MARION  SIMS. 

J.   MARION  SIMS,  M.D., 

NEW    YORK,    X.     V. 

[Extracts  taken,  by  permission,  from  a  memorial  sketch  of  the  life  of 
J.  Marion  Sims,  M.D  ,  by  W.  Gill  Wylie,  M.D.,  read  before  the  Medical 
Society  of  the  County  of  New  York,  January  28,  1884  ] 

Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen  :  I  am  happy  to  say- 
that  Dr.  J.  Marion  Sims  has  left  an  autobiography  of  sev- 
eral hundred  pages,  giving  a  full  account  of  his  life  and 
work  up  to  1868. 

What  I  have  to  say  to-night,  up  to  the  time  when  I  first 
met  Dr.  Marion  Sims  in  1868,  has  been  taken  directly  from 
the  manuscript  of  his  autobiography.  In  his  autobiogra- 
phy, after  some  preliminary  remarks,  he  begins : 

"I  was  born  in  Lancaster  County,  South  Carolina,  Jan- 
uary 25,  1813,  about  ten  miles  south  of  the  village  of  Lan- 
caster. .  .  .  The  ancestors  of  my  father,  John  Sims, 
were  of  the  English  colonists  of  Virginia.  My  mother, 
Mahal  a  Mackay,  was  the  daughter  of  Charles  and  Lydia 
Mackay,  of  Scotch-Irish  origin.  The  family  came  to 
America  about  1740."     .     .     . 

Dr.  Sims  says :  ' '  My  father,  feeling  the  want  of  an 
education  himself,  was  determined  to  educate  his  children, 
and  so  he  began  with  me  at  a  very  early  age. 
This  was  in  1818.  Mr.  Blackburn,  a  Scotchman,  had  just 
opened  a  school  in  a  log  cabin  in  the  old  field  very  near 
the  ford  of  a  creek. ' '  It  was  here  the  doctor  received  his 
first  lessons. 

In  1825,  when  twelve  years  old,  he  went  to  Lancaster 
village,  where  his  father  had  removed  the  previous  year, 
and  this  same  year  the  Franklin  Academy  was  inaugurated 
at  Lancaster ;  he  attended  school  here  for  five  years,  and 
it  was  here  that  he  met  Theresa  Jones.     He  became  sin- 


J.  MARION   SIMS,  M.D. 


DR.  J.   MARION  SIMS.  40I 

cerely  attached  to  her,  and,  long  before  they  were  en- 
gaged, she  was  a  great  influence  in  his  life,  and  together 
with  his  mother,  who  was  a  sincere,  good  woman  and 
devoted  mother,  had  much  to  do  in  establishing  his  good 
habits,  noble  sentiments,  and  high  moral  character.     .    .    . 

In  1830  he  entered  the  South  Carolina  College  at 
Columbia,  S.  C.  .  .  .  Having  entered  as  a  junior,  he 
was  graduated  from  this  college  in  December,  1832.    .    .    . 

When  twenty  years  old  he  began  to  read  medicine  under 
Dr.  Churchill  Jones.  He  remained  with  Dr.  Jones  for  a 
year.  Dr.  Jones  was  a  good  surgeon,  and  it  was  here  that 
Dr.  Sims  imbibed  a  desire  to  distinguish  himself  in 
surgery. 

In  November,  1833,  he  left  for  Charleston,  S.  C,  to 
attend  medical  lectures  at  the  Charleston  Medical  Col- 
lege.    .     .     . 

October  1,  1834,  he  left  home  for  Philadelphia,  to 
attend  lectures  at  the  Jefferson  Medical  College.  He  was 
graduated  from  this  college  on  March  1,  1835.     .     .     . 

He  went  home  in  May,  1835  ;  his  father  rented  him  an 
office,  and  he  began  the  practice  of  medicine  in  Lancaster 
village.  After  waiting  about  two  weeks  he  had  his  first 
patient,  a  case  of  cholera  infantum.  The  child  died.  In 
two  weeks  after  this  he  was  called  a  second  time,  and 
again  to  a  child  with  cholera  infantum.  He  made  up  his 
mind  that  if  this  child  died  he  would  quit  the  town,  and 
when  it  did  die,  a  few  days  later,  he  took  down  his  sign 
and  prepared  to  go  West.  He  was  disgusted  with  med- 
icine, and,  if  he  had  had  money,  he  would  never  have 
given  another  dose.  He  says  :  "  On  the  13th  of  October, 
1835 — and  the  thirteenth,  by  the  way,  has  always  been  a 
lucky  day  for  me,  and  so  had  Friday,  I  was  born  on 
Friday —     .     .     .     I  started  for  Alabama. " 

By  chance  he  met  some  people  that  he  knew,  and  he 
settled  down  in  Mount  Meigs,  a  small  cross-roads  place 
about  twenty  miles  from  Montgomery,  Ala.  He  bought 
vol.  11. — 26 


4Q2  DR-  J-  MARION  SIMS. 

out   one    of  the   two   doctors   in   this   place    and    began 
practice. 

Dr.  Sims  was  married  on  December  21,  1836,  to  Miss 
Theresa  Jones.  In  January,  1837,  with  his  wife  he  returned 
to  Mount  Meigs,  and  had  a  fair  country  practice. 

In  1838,  Dr.  Blakey,  living  about  ten  miles  distant  in 
Macon  County,  offered  Dr.  Sims  a  partnership  in  a  large 
practice  among  rich  plantations.  He  accepted  the  offer, 
bought  a  little  land  and  put  up  a  double  log  cabin,  and 
soon  had  a  good  practice.  The  first  two  of  his  children 
were  born  in  this  cabin.     . 

In  July,  1840,  he  nearly  died  of  congestive  chills,  and 
determined  to  move  to  a  more  wholesome  neighborhood. 
On  December  13,  1840,  he  moved  to  Montgomery. 

He  says:  "The  year  1840  was  a  memorable  era  in  my 
life,  and  seemed  to  be  a  turning-point  in  my  career.  For 
the  first  five  years  of  my  professional  life,  1835  to  1840,  I 
was  willing  to  turn  aside  to  do  anything  to  make  money. 
But  when  I  went  to  Montgomery  I  gave  away  my  dog, 
sold  my  gun,  and  I  have  never  loaded  or  fired  a  gun  since. 
I  devoted  myself  to  my  profession,  determined  to  succeed, 
if  industry  and  application  could  command  success.  I 
had  an  ambition  for  surgery — general  surgery — and  I  was 
performing  all  sorts  of  beautiful  and  brilliant  operations. 
This  was  before  the  days  of  anaesthetics.  I  had  made,  in 
five  or  six  years,  1840  to  1845,  such  a  reputation  for 
surgery  that  people  came  to  me  from  all  parts  of  the 
State."     .     .     . 

In  May  or  June,  1849,  ne  used  the  silver  wire  as  sutures, 
and  succeeded  perfectly  in  closing  the  first  vesico-vaginal 
fistula,  and  in  two  weeks  more  he  cured  two  more 
cases. 

In  May,  1853,  he  came  North.  In  September,  1853,  he 
bought  the  house,  No.  79  Madison  Avenue,  and  although 
very  much  reduced  in  strength  and  health,  still  suffering 
from  diarrhoea,  he  went  to  work.     . 


DR.  J.   MARION  SIMS.  .q. 

The  Woman's  Hospital  was  inaugurated  at  83  Madison 
Avenue  on  May  1,  1855.  Patients  came  in  and  it  soon 
proved  a  success.  .  .  .  In  1856  he  had  fully  recovered 
his  strength  and  worked  steadily  at  the  hospital,  and  had 
a  large  private  practice  to  attend  to.  In  June,  1861,  he 
went  to  Europe  for  the  first  time.     . 

He  writes  :  "  When  I  got  home  I  found  that  we  were  in 
the  midst  of  a  great  civil  war,  and  I  was  made  so  unhappy 
by  the  state  of  affairs  then  existing  that  I  made  up  my 
mind  to  take  my  family  abroad,  and  we  sailed  from  New 
York  in  the  Great  Eastern  in  July,  1862." 

He  remained  abroad  until  1868,  spending  most  of  the 
time  in  Paris  and  London.  He  performed  many  oper- 
ations, and  his  reputation  was  as  great  throughout  Europe 
as  it  was  in  his  own  country.  Dr.  Sims  was  a  true  Amer- 
ican and  a  believer  in  the  Republic.  In  September,  1868, 
he  returned  to  New  York  and  took  an  office  at  13  East 
Twenty-eighth  Street,  and  soon  had  a  large  practice.  .  .  . 
He  remained  here  for  the  winter,  visiting  his  family  in  the 
summer  of  1869,  and  returned  to  New  York  in  the  fall. 

In  1875  he  was  elected  President  of  the  American  Med- 
ical Association.  .  .  .  In  1877  he  decided  to  go 
abroad.     .     .    .    He  returned  to  New  York  in  1879.    •    •    • 

In  1880  his  son,  Dr.  Harry  Marion  Sims,  returned  from 
California  and  entered  into  practice  with  his  father. 

Dr.  Sims  was  elected  President  of  the  American  Gynaeco- 
logical Society  in  1880.  In  December,  1880,  Dr.  Sims, 
when  tired  out  from  constant  work  late  in  the  afternoon, 
gave  his  seat  in  his  brougham  to  two  ladies,  and  mounted 
the  box  with  the  driver  and  rode  thus  for  some  distance. 
This  little  act  of  gallantry  was  like  Dr.  Sims,  but  very  un- 
usual, and,  in  such  weather,  very  imprudent  for  a  man  of 
sixty-nine  years.  It  undoubtedly  was  the  exciting  cause 
that  lighted  up  an  attack  of  pneumonia  which  nearly  cost 
him  his  life. 

During  the  first  six  weeks  of  his  severe  illness  I  was  in 


404  DR-  J-  MARION  SIMS. 

constant  attendance.  For  ten  days  he  was  in  a  typhoid 
and  semi-delirious  state.  For  him  it  was  a  fearful  struggle. 
He  never  could  bear  pain  well,  but  he  had  no  fear  of  death. 

For  weeks  his  left  lung  was  completely  solidified,  but 
his  heart  stood  the  strain  and  surprised  both  Dr.  Metcalf 
and  Dr.  Loomis ;  the  latter  visited  him  daily.  About  the 
ist  of  February,  1S81,  his  temperature,  which  had  never 
remained  any  length  of  time  near  normal,  began  to  rise 
steadily  higher  and  higher  every  evening,  and  it  was  plain 
that  in  this  climate  he  could  not  live  much  longer.  We 
waited  for  a  change  for  the  better  in  the  weather,  but  it 
did  not  come.  With  his  temperature  at  1020  F.  and  the 
weather  thermometer  at  200,  we  took  him  South.  After 
leaving  Washington,  every  mile  that  we  traveled  seemed 
to  improve  him,  and  when  he  reached  Charleston,  in  his 
.  native  State,  we  felt  sure  that  he  would  get  well.  His 
recovery  was  slow,  and,  although  he  was  never  the  same 
man  physically,  yet  in  a  year's  time  he  looked  well,  and 
was  again  at  work.  He  returned  North  still  quite  feeble 
and  went  abroad  in  June.     . 

In  September,  1882,  he  came  home  much  improved  in 
health.  His  digestion  was  poor  and  he  complained  of 
severe  pain  about  the  heart.     . 

As  the  weather  grew  cool  in  November  he  went  abroad 
and  spent  most  of  the  winter  in  Rome,  where  he  had  a  most 
successful  practice  among  the  nobility  of  Italy.  He  re- 
turned home  July  13,  1883.     .     .     . 

On  November  13th,  at  9  p.m.,  he  went  with  his  son, 
Dr.  H.  Marion  Sims,  to  see  a  patient.  On  his  return 
home  he  coughed  considerably,  and,  after  taking  some 
morphine  to  check  it,  went  to  bed.  ...  At  3  a.m. 
he  sat  up  to  take  some  water  and  fell  back  and  expired 
without  uttering  a  word.  An  autopsy  showed  that  he  died 
of  atheromatous  degeneration  of  the  coronary  arteries. 


^t^TZ-.-r  " '"*  r** :?' 


Hi 


Bronze  Statue  of  the  late  Dr.  J.  MARION  SIMS  erected  in  Bryant  Park 
and  presented  to  the  city  of  New  York,  on  Saturday,  October  20th,  by 
the  subscribers  to  the  fund. 


(COPYRIGHT,   1S94,  BY    WILLIAM    WOOD    &    CO.) 


DR.  J.  MARION  SIMS.  ^0c 


J.  MARION  SIMS,  M.D. 

An  address  delivered  October  20, 1894,  in  Bryant  Park,  New  York, 
on  the  unveiling  of  the  statue  of  Dr.  J.  Marion  Sims. 

BY  GEORGE  F.  SHRADY,  M.D., 
NEW  YORK,  N.  Y 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen  :  We  have  met  on  this  occa- 
sion to  do  honor  to  a  medical  man,  and  through  him  to 
show  a  becoming  appreciation  of  the  labors  of  his  fellows. 

Strange  as  it  may  appear,  in  consideration  of  the  motive 
which  has  actuated  this  recognition  of  valuable  services  to 
mankind,  and  the  previous  opportunities  that  have  been, 
from  time  to  time,  offered  for  conferring  similar  honors 
on  the  profession,  this  is  the  first  instance  in  this  country 
in  which  an  heroic  statue  has  been  erected  to  a  member  of 
that  fraternity. 

Heretofore  fame  has  restricted  her  tributes  to  achieve- 
ments in  every  other  line  of  high  human  endeavor — war, 
poetry,  music,  literature,  art,  patriotism,  statesmanship, 
and  philanthropy  have  in  turn  mounted  the  pedestal, 
while  the  genius  of  medicine,  with  finger  upon  closed  lips, 
has  humbly  and  mutely  awaited  the  verdict  of  an  appreci- 
ative humanity. 

This  new  departure  which  we  this  day  inaugurate  can 
be  hailed,  from  many  points  of  view,  as  an  omen  of  good 
import,  as  the  beginning  of  an  end  in  which  cherished 
traditions  shall  no  longer  hamper  the  well-directed  efforts 
of  such  as  work  in  other  spheres  of  human  usefulness.  The 
public,  however,  is  not  so  much  to  blame  for  lack  of  a 
general  appreciation  of  the  work  of  the  doctor  as  would  at 
first  appear.  It  has  in  reality  no  means  of  estimating  dis- 
tinctive merits.  It  was,  therefore,  proper,  in  order  to 
initiate  such  a  movement  as  the  present  one,  that  the  pro- 
fession itself  should  take  the  lead,  and  indicate  a  fitting 


4q6  E>R  J-  MARION  SIMS. 

subject  for  such  an  honor.  This  was  done  by  the  Medical 
Record,  which  made  an  appeal  to  the  profession  in  this 
and  other  countries  for  funds  with  which  to  erect  a  monu- 
ment to  the  memory  of  one  of  its  acknowledged  leaders. 

A  committee  was  appointed,  of  which  the  late  Dr. 
Fordyce  Barker  was  chairman,  which  comprised  leading 
specialists  from  every  part  of  the  United  States.  Our 
own  city  was  represented  by  Drs.  T.  Gaillard  Thomas, 
Thomas  Addis  Emmet,  William  T.  Lusk,  William  M. 
Polk,  Paul  F.  Munde,  the  editor  of  the  Medical  Record, 
and  Mr.  William  H.  S.  Wood,  as  treasurer  of  the  fund. 

The  subscriptions  were  mostly  limited  to  one  dollar 
each,  and  coming  as  they  did  from  members  of  the  pro- 
fession in  every  part  of  the  civilized  world,  attested,  in  an 
unmistakable  manner,  the  good  name  and  great  fame  of 
the  American  surgeon. 

This  distinction  came,  then,  from  his  peers,  who  were 
best  able  to  judge  his  qualifications  for  it,  and  who  with 
one  accord  were  delighted  to  honor  him. 

It  was  eminently  fitting  also  that  such  a  tribute  should 
be  paid  to  American  surgery  in  general,  through  one  of 
its  chief  representatives.  He  was  a  product  of  the  soil 
as  well  as  the  exemplification  of  one  of  the  principles 
which  has  placed  American  surgery  where  it  is  to-day, 
holding  the  sceptre  of  the  world. 

Nothing  in  all  the  line  of  progress  during  the  century 
has  acquitted  itself  so  creditably  as  this  very  science  of 
life-saving  by  operative  procedure.  And  America  specially 
points  with  pride  to  her  great  achievements  in  this  notable 
art,  to  her  notable  discoveries  in  alleviating  human  suffer- 
ing, her  successful  efforts  in  prolonging  human  life,  and 
in  the  accuracy,  skill,  and  daring  of  her  brilliant  oper- 
ators. 

America  gave  ether  to  the  world,  invented  the  new  sleep 
which  numbs  the  touch  of  sharpest  steel,  brings  sweet  peace 
in  the  eternal  war  with  agony,  and  wafts  pain  to  oblivion 


BR   J.  MARION  SIMS  *0j 

on  the  drowsy  wing  of  night.  She  opened  'new  fields  for 
exploration  within  the  human  body,  made  abdominal  sur- 
gery,  with  its  brilliant  successes,  the  possibility  of  the  age, 
and  with  dauntless  blade  and  master  hand  snatched  victory 
from  the  long  hidden  intrenchments  of  death.  In  fact, 
in  every  department  of  surgical  procedure  the  American 
surgeon  has  left  his  impress  for  good  either  in  the  inven- 
tion of  new  methods  or  in  the  modification  of  old  ones ; 
and  has  given  American  surgery  a  world-wide  recognition 
for  originality  of  conception,  boldness  of  execution,  and 
success  of  practice. 

In  his  own  department  Sims,  a  born  and  typical  Ameri- 
can, was  a  leading  worker.  He  established  a  school  of  his 
own.  which  has  now  won  fame  throughout  the  world. 
Indeed,  it  is  safe  to  say  that  Sims's  name  is  associated 
with  more  original  operations  and  more  new  instruments 
for  making  such  operations  successful  than  that  of  any  other 
American  surgeon.  His  was  the  germinal  thought  im- 
planted in  a  disposition  for  untiring  work,  which  changed 
impossibilities  into  triumphs,  restoring  health  and  happi- 
ness to  countless  numbers  of  suffering  womanhood. 

If  it  be  true  that  no  fame  is  lasting  unless  founded  on 
labors  which  promote  the  happiness  of  mankind,  the  name 
of  Sims  must  live  as  long  as  generations  succeed  each 
other,  and  will  punctuate  the  progress  of  history  by  its 
cherished  memory. 

But  Sims,  although  ambitious,  did  not  seek  for  fame. 
When  it  came  to  him  he  viewed  it  with  an  innocent  sur- 
prise. When  it  was  all  done,  when  during  his  tour  of  the 
capitals  of  Europe,  operating  in  the  large  hospitals  and 
before  the  renowned  surgeons  of  the  day,  his  breast  stud- 
ded with  the  starry  decorations  of  France,  Portugal,  Spain, 
and  Italy,  he  could  not  understand  why  he  was  so  cordially 
noticed,  forgetting  that  he  himself  was  the  focal  point 
toward  which  all  the  then  great  lights  centred. 

Indeed,  it  was  said  of  Sims  that  he  could  practice  and 


408  DR-  J-   MARION  SIMS. 

earn  his  living  in  any  city  of  Europe,  by  virtue  of  what 
became  for  him  a  cosmopolitan  reputation. 

He  was,  however,  virtually  alone  in  his  conviction  of 
ultimate  success.  His  few  professional  friends,  who  were 
at  first  enthusiastically  hopeful,  became,  in  the  face  of  his 
early  failures,  mistrustful  and  discouraged.  While  they 
admired  his  ardor  they  pitied  his  delusion.  In  his  darkest 
hours  came  confidential  advice  from  his  brother-in-law : 
''When  you  began  these  experiments,"  said  he,  "we  all 
thought  that  you  were  going  to  succeed  at  once,  and  that 
you  were  on  the  eve  of  a  great  discovery.  We  have  watched 
you  and  sympathize  with  you,  but  your  friends  here  have 
seen  that  you  are  breaking  down  with  overwork.  And 
besides,  I  must  tell  you  frankly  that  with  your  young 
family  it  is  unjust  to  them  that  you  continue  in  this  way. 
You  have  no  idea  what  it  costs  you  to  support  your  hos- 
pital, now  for  over  three  years,  and  my  advice  is  to  give  it 
all  up."  His  answer  came  quickly  and  to  the  point: 
"My  dear  brother,  if  I  live  I  am  bound  to  succeed.  I 
am  as  sure  that  I  will  carry  this  thing  through  as  I  am  that 
I  now  live.  I  have  done  too  much  already.  I  am  going 
on  with  these  experiments  to  the  end,  it  matters  not  what 
it  costs,  if  it  costs  my  life." 

The  destiny  of  discovery  forced  him  against  many  ap- 
parently overwhelming  obstacles  to  finally  fulfil  his  mission. 
Thus  a  backwoods  doctor  of  Alabama,  struggling  for  his 
daily  bread,  hampered  by  sickness,  working  for  the  work's 
sake,  his  ardor  glowing  in  the  very  ashes  of  his  hope,  with 
desperate  cases  forced  upon  him.  compelled  to  follow  in  a 
given  line,  and  conscious  of  a  duty  he  owed  to  his  poorest 
patient,  was  ever  busy  in  his  long  and  lonely  drives  in  de- 
vising the  newer  means  of  relief.  Turning  to  account  a 
trivial  circumstance  in  the  treatment  of  a  patient,  what  was 
before  a  perplexing  problem  became  a  solved  discovery. 
A  new  method  of  operating  was  thus  suggested,  and  with 
an  almost  overpowering  enthusiasm  in  the  possession  of 


DR.  J.  MARION  SIMS. 


4O9 


the  principle  he  eagerly  put  it  to  the  test.  His  first  opera- 
tion was  upon  a  female  slave.  It  failed,  as  did  others  upon 
similar  subjects.  But  there  was  enough  of  encouragement 
in  each  to  prick  his  ambition  and  spur  his  purpose.  He 
must  have  suitable  means  to  the  end,  so  he  equipped  a 
little  hospital  of  his  own,  and  with  the  humblest  of  poor 
patients  accomplished  the  greatest  of  triumphs. 

The  stitches  used  in  his  operation  were  necessarily  so 
deeply  placed  that  they  could  not  be  securely  tied,  and 
were  themselves  a  source  of  infection.  And  then  another 
step  was  taken.  He  had  been  lying  awake  for  an  hour 
wondering  how  to  tie  the  suture,  when  all  at  once  an  idea 
occurred  to  him  to  run  a  perforated  shot  along  the  string, 
and  when  the  suture  was  tightened  to  compress  the  shot, 
thus  making  the  knot  secure.  He  became  so  elated  with 
the  discovery  that  he  lay  there  until  morning  performing 
in  imagination  all  sorts  of  operations  upon  the  patients  in 
his  little  hospital.  But  the  shot  did  not  answer  every  pur- 
pose, for  the  silk  of  the  suture  still  made  union  impossible. 
Just  at  this  time  he  was  walking  from  the  house  to  his  office 
when  he  picked  up  a  piece  of  fine  brass  wire.  "A  wire  is 
the  thing,"  said  he.  A  neighboring  jeweller  made  him  a 
fine  wire  of  silver,  and  with  it  the  thirtieth  operation  was 
performed  upon  the  long-suffering  yet  hopeful  slave,  and 
the  principle  was  forever  established. 

These  incidents  are  merely  sketched  to  present  an  out- 
line of  some  parts  of  his  character;  how  the  greatest  ending 
may  have  the  most  insignificant  beginning.  Whenever  a 
great  discoverv  is  to  be  made  the  idea  of  it  compasses  the 
individual  round  and  about,  it  possesses  him  by  day  and 
by  night,  at  all  hours  and  in  all  places,  until  the  misty 
conjectures  form  the  rainbow  of  promise,  which  frames  the 
prospect  of  a  world  beyond.  Thus  Sims  found  Fame  wait- 
ing with  her  chaplet.  From  little  things  to  great  ones  is 
the  lesson  of  every  invention.  With  Sims  all  the  successes 
of  his  great  operations  hinged  not  only  upon  the  wide 


4IO  DR.  J.  MARION  SIMS. 

utility  of  the  famous  instrument  now  inseparably  associated 
with  his  name,  but  upon  the  accidental  suggestion  of  a 
cast-off  suspender  wire. 

So  also  the  little  hospital  maintained  by  himself  from 
the  limited  income  of  a  poor,  sickly,  and  hard-worked 
practitioner,  with  its  beds  occupied  by  bondwomen,  was 
the  germinal  conception  of  the  present  Woman's  Hospital 
in  this  city,  the  only  institution  of  its  kind  in  the  world, 
and  an  eternal  monument  to  the  ardent  zeal  and  lofty 
purposes  of  its  brilliant  founder.  Thus  while  here  the 
statue  preserves  the  memory  of  the  good  man,  of  the  faith- 
ful worker,  of  the  great  inventor,  of  the  broad  philanthro- 
pist, the  Woman's  Hospital  becomes  for  him  and  all  of  us 
an  ever-living  principle,  extending  its  charity,  widening 
its  influences,  perfecting  scientific  skill,  and  fulfilling  its 
divine  mission  of  alleviating  suffering  and  saving  the  lives 
of  waiting  generations  of  stricken  womanhood. 

But  Sims  was  not  only  a  leader  in  his  own  department, 
but  was  always  ready  to  devise  new  methods  of  treatment 
in  the  broader  domain  of  general  surgery.  As  a  striking 
instance  of  this  he  was  the  first  to  boldly  advocate  the 
operative  invasion  of  the  abdominal  cavity  for  gunshot- 
wounds  of  that  region.  When  the  lamented  Garfield  was 
shot,  Dr.  Sims,  in  a  cabled  interview  from  Paris,  advised 
that  such  an  exploration  should  be  made.  Astonishing  as 
it  was,  and  as  much  criticism  as  it  then  provoked,  it  would 
be  the  first  of  all  expedients  at  the  present  day. 

Suffice  it  to  say  that  every  man  having  his  place,  Sims 
has  found  his.  If  brains,  opportunity,  environment,  and 
energy  fit  him  for  great  things,  he  is  singled  out  as  a 
memory  of  good  accomplished,  as  an  emulation  for  kin- 
dred spirits,  as  an  exponent  of  the  progressive  idea,  and 
as  an  acknowledged  benefactor  of  his  race.  The  realiza- 
tion of  such  a  position  for  Dr.  Sims  is  manifest  in  the 
reverential  duties  of  this  hour,  which  consign  his  lovable 
memory  to  the  heritage  of  a  grateful  humanity. 

Taken,  by  permission,  from  Med.  Record,  Oct.  27,  1894. 


DR.  J.  MARION  SIMS.  ^  l 


J.  MARION  SIMS,  M.D. 

An  address  delivered  October  20,  1894,  in  Bryant  Park,  New  York, 
on  the  unveiling  of  the  statue  of  Dr.  J.  Marion  Sims. 

BY    PAUL  F.    MUNDE,  M.D., 
NEW   YORK,   N.  Y. 

Mr.  Chairman,  Ladies,  and  Gentlemen  :  You  have 
heard  from  my  distinguished  friend,  the  preceding  speaker, 
who  and  what  manner  of  man  Dr.  Sims  was.  To  me  has 
been  delegated  the  honor  of  enlightening  you  as  to  the 
reasons  why  he  was  selected  for  the  peculiar  distinction  of 
having  a  statue  erected  to  his  memory.  I  say  "peculiar 
distinction"  because,  while  in  our  parks  and  squares  are 
found  the  statues  of  soldiers,  statesmen,  poets,  merchant 
princes,  and  clergymen,  nowhere  until  to-day,  so  far  as  I 
am  aware,  does  there  stand  a  statue  of  a  physician.  There 
have  been  several  public  monuments  and  busts  erected  to 
prominent  physicians  in  other  cities,  notably  a  monument 
to  Dr.  Ephraim  McDowell,  the  discoverer  of  ovariotomy, 
in  Lexington,  Ky. ;  a  bust  to  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush,  in 
Philadelphia;  and  a  monument  to  the  "Discovery  of 
Anaesthesia,"  the  heroes  of  which  are  not  mentioned,  in 
the  public  garden  of  Boston.  But  this  statue  to  Dr.  Sims 
is  the  first  of  its  kind  erected  in  this  country.  And  why 
has  this  great  distinction  been  awarded  him  ?  Simply  and 
solely  because,  among  the  many  eminent  physicians  and 
surgeons  whom  America  has  produced,  he  stands  pre- 
eminent as  the  man  through  whose  genius,  perseverance, 
and  energy  a  special  branch  of  medical  science  and  practice 
was  so  renovated,  improved,  and  elevated  as  to  create  an 
era  in  medicine  and  raise  America  from  the  place  of  the 
docile  and  receptive  pupil  to  the  proud  position  of  the 
teacher  of  older  nations. 

This  claim  is  allowed  Dr.  Sims  without  dispute,  even  by 


4I2  DR.  J.  MARION  SIMS. 

those  European  nations  who  are  most  jealous  of  their  own 
achievements  in  medical  science. 

Up  to  fifty  years  ago  the  special  branch  of  medicine  to 
which  Dr.  Sims  devoted  himself,  as  soon  as  sufficient  op- 
portunity offered,  had  made  comparatively  little  progress. 
About  the  middle  of  the  present  century  three  men  in 
Europe,  by  their  individual  efforts,  each  in  his  own  land, 
raised  this  branch  of  medicine  to  the  dignity  of  a  specialty, 
and  placed  it  on  a  sound  scientific  basis.  These  men  were 
Simpson,  in  Great  Britain,  Recamier,  in  France,  and 
Scanzoni,  in  Germany.  But  in  spite  of  their  efforts  the 
treatment  of  these  diseases  advanced  but  little,  and  the 
one  needful  factor,  the  knife,  was  rarely  used.  Then, 
like  a  meteor,  appeared  the  genius  of  Sims  !  In  the 
Southern  town  where  he  had  for  many  years  followed  the 
practice  of  a  successful  general  surgeon,  as  my  predecessor 
has  already  stated,  accident  caused  him  to  stumble  on  a 
method  of  operating  and  curing  a  hitherto  practically 
incurable  injury.  Strange  to  say,  the  instrument  which 
enabled  him  to  achieve  this  success,  and  which  remains 
indelibly  associated  with  his  name,  owed  its  origin  to  the 
happy  thought  of  a  bent  kitchen  spoon  !  An  ordinary 
man  would  not  have  grasped  the  situation ;  but  the  genius 
of  Sims  at  once  comprehended  the  immense  value  of  his 
discovery,  and  led  him  on  to  improvement  after  improve- 
ment, until  the  whole  procedure  was  perfected. 

The  field  of  Montgomery,  Ala.,  then  became  too  narrow 
for  his  ambition,  and  in  1853  he  came  to  New  York.  His 
one  great  object  here  was  to  establish  a  hospital  for  the 
exclusive  treatment  of  the  diseases  peculiar  to  the  female 
sex ;  and  long  and  hard  did  he  work,  until,  after  much 
opposition  from  physicians  and  laymen,  and  many  a  dis- 
appointment, in  1855  he  was  at  last  able  to  form  the 
Woman's  Hospital  Association.  On  the  opening,  in  1856, 
of  a  temporary  hospital  in  Madison  Avenue,  among  other 
speakers   to   commemorate   the    occasion,   Dr.   Valentine 


DR.  J-   MARION  SIMS.  4I, 

Mott,  who  was  the  foremost  surgeon  of  his  time  both  at 
home  and  abroad,  made  the  following  remarks  :  "Go  on, 
Dr.  Sims,  in  your  work  of  charity  and  benevolence  !  Al- 
though no  marble  urn  or  inanimate  bust  may  tell  of  your 
honor  and  renown,  you  will  yet  have  in  all  coming  time 
a  more  enduring  monument ;  and  that  monument  will  be 
the  gratitude  of  woman."  The  latter  part  of  Dr.  Mott's 
prophecy  has  long  since  been  fulfilled.  And  to-day  we 
are  assembled  to  celebrate  the  unveiling  of  the  statue  which 
Dr.  Mott  scarcely  expected  to  see  erected. 

The  limited  accommodations  of  the  hospital  soon  proved 
insufficient,  and  after  many  delays  funds  were  secured  for 
the  erection  of  the  first  pavilion  of  the  present  Woman's 
Hospital,  at  Forty  ninth  Street  and  Park  Avenue,  the  land 
for  which  was  given  by  the  city.  Since  then  one  other 
pavilion  and  a  number  of  cottages  for  tumor  operations 
have  been  donated  by  private  citizens. 

This  Woman's  Hospital,  founded  by  Dr.  Sims,  was  the 
first  institution  of  its  kind  in  the  world.  Its  work  became 
world-known  under  his  teachings,  and  those  of  his  col- 
leagues, Emmet,  Thomas,  and  Peaslee.  And  from  its 
walls  have  issued  scores  of  young  physicians,  and  thousands 
of  professional  visitors,  who  carried  what  they  had  there 
seen  and  acquired  to  the  four  corners  of  the  globe. 

A  sojourn  of  several  years  in  Europe  made  Dr.  Sims's 
name  familiar  to  the  medical  profession  abroad,  and  many 
opportunities  were  there  afforded  him  of  demonstrating 
his  peculiar  methods  of  operating.  But  his  name  became 
particularly  well  known  after  the  appearance,  in  1866,  of 
the  only  book  of  any  magnitude  which  he  ever  wrote,  the 
originality  and  boldness  of  which  aroused  admiration  and 
surprise  all  over  the  professional  world.  By  the  older 
physicians  it  was  even  regarded  with  more  or  less  distrust 
and  incredulity.  This  was  particularly  the  case  in  Ger- 
many, then  so  very  conservative  in  this  branch  of  medi- 
cine, but   now  the   boldest    of  the   bold   in    her  daring 


414  DR.  J.   MARION  SIMS. 

achievements  with  the  knife.  I  well  remember  how,  in 
1867,  Scanzoni,  the  Nestor  of  German  gynaecology,  whose 
assistant  I  then  was,  brought  a  copy  of  the  translation  of 
Dr.  Sims's  book,  which  had  just  appeared,  to  the  clinic, 
and  emphatically  expressed  to  me  his  opinion  that,  orig- 
inal and  ingenious  as  Sims's  views  and  methods  were, 
he  still  was  only  an  enthusiast,  whose  illusions  were  not 
capable  of  realization.  And  that  was  less  than  thirty  years 
ago  !  And  in  these  thirty  years  these  very  "illusions"  of 
Sims,  subject,  of  course,  here  and  there,  to  the  modifica- 
tions of  increased  experience,  have  become  the  accepted 
rules  of  practice  all  over  the  world.  It  may  truly  be  said 
that  this  book  of  Sims  made  a  revolution  in  modern  gynae- 
cological practice. 

With  Sims  came  the  revolution  which  upset  the  conser- 
vative "do-little"  methods,  and  opened  wide  the  field  of 
active,  radical,  scientific,  and  rational  treatment  by  sur- 
gical means  of  the  diseases  and  malformations  which  for- 
merly were  merely  palliative  or  left  unrelieved.  As  the 
exponent  of  a  new  system  in  gynaecological  therapeutics 
Sims  may  truly,  to  use  the  term  of  the  clergyman  who  de- 
livered his  funeral  oration,  be  looked  upon  as  an  "apostle." 
Without  disparagement  to  the  patient  labors  of  previous 
workers  in  the  same  field,  I  must  insist  that  the  greatest 
triumphs  in  this  specialty  have  been  achieved  since  Sims 
first  taught  us  how  to  use  his  speculum,  the  scissors,  the 
knife,  and  the  needle  for  the  cure  of  the  diseases  to  which 
he  paid  particular  attention.  J.  Marion  Sims  may,  there- 
fore, with  all  propriety,  be  called  The  Father  of  Modern 
Gynecology,  and  it  is  to  this  universally  admitted  claim 
that  he  owes  the  distinction  of  being  the  first  physician  to 
whose  memory  a  statue  has  been  erected. 

The  geniu?  of  Dr.  Sims  was  not  limited  to  the  specialty 
with  which  for  all  time  his  name  will  be  connected.  Quite 
early  in  his  career  he  wrote  an  article  on  "  Convulsions  in 
Infants"    (Trismus  nascentium),  in  which  he  advanced 


DR.  J.  MARION  SIMS.  *xt 

the  very  plausible  theory,  borne  out  by  later  experiences, 
that  these  convulsions  could  be  prevented  and  relieved  by 
removing  the  pressure  exerted  on  the  brain  through  the 
soft  skull  of  the  child  by  the  simple  plan  of  placing  it  on 
its  side,  instead  of  permitting  it  to  lie  constantly  on  the 
back.  Again,  he  was  among  the  first,  if  not  the  first,  to 
recognize  an  abscess  of  the  liver  and  open  it  by  a  free 
incision.  Obstruction  of  the  gall-bladder  was  also  the 
subject  of  an  article  by  him,  in  which  he  described  the 
operation  of  opening  that  organ,  and  thus  relieving  the 
symptoms.  One  of  Dr.  Sims's  last  original  achievements 
has  already  been  referred  to  by  the  preceding  speaker — I 
mean  his  criticism  of  the  treatment  of  the  wound  of  Presi- 
dent Garfield.  I  well  remember  how  vehemently  his  views 
were  opposed  by  the  leading  surgeons  of  this  city,  who 
insisted  that  it  was  presumptuous  for  him,  a  surgeon  in  an 
entirely  different  line  of  practice,  to  offer  such  radical 
suggestions  to  them.  But  Sims's  views  soon  gained  ground, 
and  to-day,  only  twelve  years  later,  the  correctness  of  his 
prophetic  assertion  is  so  well  recognized  that  any  surgeon 
who  would  fail  to  carry  out  Dr.  Sims's  advice  to  at  once 
open  the  abdominal  cavity  in  case  of  injury  by  gunshot  or 
other  perforating  wound,  and  suture  the  wounded  organs, 
would  be  considered  criminally  negligent !  If  only  one 
such  case  out  of  one  hundred  is  saved  by  this  practice, 
it  is  so  much  gained,  since  without  the  operation  death 
is  inevitable. 

I  hope  I  have  been  successful  in  demonstrating  why  a 
statue  has  been  erected  to  the  memory  of  Dr.  Sims.  It 
certainly  is  not  my  object  to  deliver  a  fulsome  eulogy  of 
this  great  man.  He  needs  no  flattery.  The  record  of 
his  deeds  speaks  for  itself.  His  memory  and  the  recol- 
lection of  what  he  has  done  for  suffering  mankind  will 
be  far  more  enduring  than  his  statue  or  the  granite  on 
which  it  stands.  Let  his  life  be  a  shining  example  for  us 
to  follow  ! 

Taken,  by  permission,  from  Med.  JZecord,  Oct.  27, 1894. 


4i6 


TRIBUTE   TO  EPHRAIM  MCDOWELL. 


response  to  the  toast,  "ephraim 
Mcdowell." 

Delivered,  without  manuscript,  at  the  annual  banquet  of  the  Chicago 
Gynaecological  Society,  October  18,  1895. 

BY    JOSEPH    EASTMAN,  M.D. ,  LL.D., 
INDIANAPOLIS,    1ND. 

In  a  hallowed  spot,  a  typical  American  home,  in  Rock- 
bridge County,  Va.,  November  11,  17  71,  a  male  child  was 
born.  It  has  been  said  that  "great  men,  like  great  moun- 
tains, stand  alone,  with  the  valley  of  ancestry  on  the  one 
side  and  the  gulf  of  posterity  on  the  other."  This  tower- 
ing character,  however,  did  not  stand  alone,  for  the  foot- 
hills of  his  ancestry  were  of  decided  magnitude,  prophetic 
of  a  genius  destined  to  become  one  of  the  greatest  bene- 
factors of  the  human  race.  His  ancestry  for  three  genera- 
tions commingled  with  the  best  Scotch  and  Irish  blood, 
coursing  the  arteries  of  men  and  women  of  strong  bodies 
and  strong  characters — characters  emphasized,  energized, 
and  vitalized  on  historic  battle-fields  with  red-skins,  red- 
coats, wild  beasts  and  hardships  of  the  primitive  Virginia 
forests. 

Figuratively  speaking,  this  child  was  number  nine  in  a 
family  of  eleven  children.  When  thirteen  years  of  age 
his  parents  moved  to  Danville,  Ky.,  a  long,  tedious,  and 
even  perilous  journey;  a  journey  in  itself  well  calculated 
to  develop  and  toughen  the  fibres  in  our  valiant  hero. 

At  Danville  he  grew  up  to  full  physical  manhood,  tall, 
well  proportioned,  beautiful.  What  a  wonderful  advan- 
tage it  is  to  grow  up  in  the  country,  to  commune  with 
nature,  to  enjoy  the  beauties  of  green  fields  instead  of 
paved  streets ;  to  gaze  on  great  oaks  and  elms  instead  of 
steeples  and  chimneys ;  to  see  the  radiant  tints  of  the 
morning  dawn  and  the  beauties  of  the  setting  sun  ;  where 


TRIBUTE  TO  EPHRAIM  MCDOWELL.  aXj 

the  mind  can  grow  commensurate  with  a  healthy  body ; 
where  one  can  develop  and  cultivate  the  greatest  of  facul- 
ties— that  of  thinking — without  having  the  continuity  of 
thought  interrupted  by  the  rattling  of  electric  cars,  the 
rumbling  of  omnibuses,  or  the  shrieking  whistle  of  steam 
engines ;  where  one  can  see  in  reality  what  art  galleries 
only  imitate,  and  while  enraptured  with  the  works  of 
nature  and  the  created,  become  filled  with  the  realization 
of  the  existence  of  a  Creator.  _  And  then,  too,  to  be  reared 
under  the  influence  of  such  parents  as  our  hero  had.  The 
lasting  impressions  of  our  lives  are  received  beneath  the 
cloudless  sky  of  childhood,  while  our  guiding  star  is  the 
approving  twinkle  of  the  paternal  eye,  the  chief  luminary 
of  our  pathway,  the  vitalizing  sunshine  of  a  mother's  coun- 
tenance, and  every  footstep  guided  by  the  subduing  influ- 
ence of  a  mother's  love. 

After  obtaining  his  literary  education  at  Georgetown, 
Ky.,  he  went  as  a  student  of  medicine  to  Dr.  Humphries, 
in  Stanton,  Va.  History  tells  us  little  of  this  Dr.  Hum- 
phries except  that  he  was  educated  at  the  University  of 
Edinburgh,  but  surely  he,  too,  was  a  man  of  great  intel- 
lectual endowment.  Dr.  Samuel  Brown,  of  Kentucky, 
and  Dr.  Hosack,  of  New  York,  were  also  his  pupils  and 
arrived  at  a  great  distinction  as  practitioners  and  teachers 
of  medicine  and  surgery.  In  1793-94  our  hero  attended 
lectures  at  the  University  of  Edinburgh.  Pause  for  a 
moment,  and  think  of  a  young  American  so  ambitious 
that  the  entire  faculty  of  this  great  university  could  not 
satiate  his  thirst  for  knowledge,  for  going  outside  he  em- 
ployed Dr.  John  Bell,  a  great  character,  so  enraptured  in 
teaching  anatomy  and  surgery  that  he  filled  his  pupils  to 
overflowing  with  professional  zeal.  In  1795  our  hero  re- 
turned to  America  and  began  the  practice  of  medicine  at 
Danville,  Ky.,  where  he  soon  had  a  large  clientage,  often 
riding  fifty  and  one  hundred  miles  on  horseback.  He 
faced  dangers  from  storm  and  flood,  in  clouds  and  dark- 

VOL    II. — 27 


4I 8  TRIBUTE  TO  EPHRAIM  MCDOWELL. 

ness  at  night,  at  times  becoming  lost  in  the  dense  forest. 
He  was  actuated  by  the  higher  principles  of  his  profession; 
he  feared  neither  man  nor  devil ;  he  knew  no  fear  except 
the  fear  of  doing  wrong.  The  degree  of  his  happiness 
was  determined  by  the  magnitude  of  his  undertaking. 

On  December  13,  1809,  he  was  called  to  see  a  Mrs. 
Crawford,  whose  attending  physician  had  thought  her 
pregnant,  although  he  knew  she  had  gone  beyond  the 
usual  time.  Our  hero  being  a  thorough  master  of  all  that 
was  known  of  that  highest  department  of  our  art,  namely, 
diagnosis,  declared  that  she  had  an  ovarian  tumor  and  at 
once  suggested  its  removal.  Had  he  deceived  her  by  an 
untruth,  or  kept  back  from  her  the  whole  truth,  she  would 
have  known  it,  would  have  read  it  in  his  countenance, 
and  would  not  have  replied  :  "  Doctor,  I  am  willing  and 
ready."  But  he  stated  to  her  that  so  far  as  he  knew  the 
operation  had  never  been  done — that  it  would  be  an  ex- 
periment, therefore  he  could  make  no  promise  as  to  the 
outcome.  He  thus  unlocked  the  bosom  of  confidence 
with  the  key  of  personal  magnetism.  By  his  manly  pres- 
ence and  honest  words  he  planted  a  new  hope  in  the  heart 
of  despair.  This  woman  made  the  journey,  sixty  miles, 
on  horseback  on  a  bleak  December  day,  in  compliance 
with  the  wisdom  of  this  great  and  good  man,  that  she 
might  be  near  him  so  that  in  a  critical  moment  he  could, 
with  his  own  hand,  ward  off  the  approaching  danger. 
When  it  became  known  what  he  was  about  to  undertake, 
he  found  a  mob  was  gathering  about  his  house.  He 
learned  that  if  the  patient  recovered  it  would  be  well  with 
him,  but  if  she  died  from  the  operation  he  was  to  be  at 
the  mercy  of  a  merciless  mob.  He  offered  up  a  prayer 
and  proceeded  with  his  task.  This  prayer  in  fervency 
and  literary  merit  has  rarely  been  equaled.  Permit  me 
to  remark,  greater  heroism  was  never  displayed  by  man  or 
woman.  Martyrs  burned  at  the  stake  could  not  escape 
the  death  if  they  would.     This  personification  and  crystal- 


TRIB  UTE   TO  EPHRAIM  MC  D  O  WELL.  *  T  g 

lization  of  heroism  would  not  abandon  his  principles,  and 
escape  the  danger  if  he  could.  More  than  that,  genuine 
heroism  must  be  deliberate,  must  be  premeditated,  must 
be  actuated  by  a  pure,  a  high,  a  holy  and  beneficent  mo- 
tive. It  was  not  a  maddening  pseudo  heroism  stirred  up 
by  the  rattle  of  drum  and  shriek  of  fife  on  battle-fields, 
where  man  seeks  to  slay  his  fellow-man. 

I  insist  that  the  heroism  of  Napoleon  or  Grant  can  never 
be  compared  to  that  of  this  cool,  calculating,  thinking  man. 
I  repeat,  the  heroism  that  seeks  to  destroy  human  lives  is 
incomparable  with  that  which  seeks  to  save  human  life  and 
establish  principles  which  shall  not  only  save  one  life,  but 
which  shall  continue  to  save  human  lives  throughout  all 
coming  ages.  The  operation  was  completed,  and  during 
nearly  a  century  has  not  been  improved  upon ;  his  technique 
was  almost  identical  with  what  we  have  to-day.  The  sub- 
stitution of  a  gauze  for  the  drainage-tube  still  more  nearly 
approaches  the  ligatures  which  he  allowed  to  hang  out  the 
lower  angle  of  the  wound — the  best  of  capillary  drainage. 
Mrs.  Crawford  lived  thirty-two  years  after  the  operation. 
Our  hero  made  the  operation  'thirteen  times  with  eight  re- 
coveries, and  when  nearly  sixty  years  of  age  returned  from 
visiting  a  patient,  laid  down  his  instruments  for  the  last 
time,  and  secured  that  rest  which  he  never  could  enjoy  while 
a  call  to  the  bedside  of  a  suffering  patient  was  pending. 
Surely  such  a  life  of  unselfish  devotion  to  the  cause  of 
humanity  would  make  him  a  fit  companion  for  the  gods. 

"  To  such  a  life  there  is  no  death  ; 
What  seems  so,  is  transition. 
His  life,  his  mortal  breath, 

Was  but  a  suburb  of  the  life  elysian 
Whose  portals  we  call  death." 

He  was  an  honest  man,  honest  to  his  patients,  honest  to 
his  God,  and  therefore  honest  to  himself.  He  was  a  great 
man  with  a  large  head,  a  large  capacity  for  thinking,  and 


420 


TRIBUTE   TO  EPHRA1M  AIC DO  WELL. 


a  large,  a  true,  and  a  loving  heart — essential  qualifications 
for  a  great  surgeon. 

He  was  a  wise  man.  With  inborn  wisdom  he  accumulated 
and  applied  knowledge.  He  was  a  brave  man.  No  truer 
heroism  has  or  ever  will  be  recorded  on  the  immortal 
pages  of  never-ending-  history.  He  was  a  humane  man. 
He  owned  slaves,  occasionally  bought  one  to  unite  families 
— but  never  sold  one.  He  did  not  approve  of  traffic  in 
human  blood. 

He  was  a  handsome  man. 

"  Beautiful  eyes  are  those  that  show, 
Like  crystal  panes  where  heart-fires  glow, 
Beautiful  thoughts  that  dwell  below. 
Beautiful  lips  are  those  whose  words 
Spring  from  the  heart  like  song  of  birds — 
And  yet  whose  utterance  produce  girds. 
Beautiful  hands  are  those  that  do 
Work  that  is  noble  and  brave  and  true, 
Moment  by  moment  the  long  day  through." 

His  was  a  beautiful  life. 

"  Beautiful  lives  are  those  that  bless, 
Some  silent  river  of  happiness, 
Whose  secret  fountains  few  can  guess." 

Virginia  is  justly  proud  of  her  statesmen,  of  her  orators 
and  her  soldiers,  "but  shall  not  the  achievements  of  her 
statesmen  succumb,  at  last,  to  the  pitiless  logic  of  events  ? 
Shall  not  the  voice  of  her  orators  grow  fainter  with  coming 
ages  ?  Shall  not  the  victories  of  her  soldiers  be  found  at 
last  only  in  the  libraries  of  students  of  military  campaigns, 
while  the  fame  of  this  village  surgeon,  like  the  ever-widen- 
ing waves  of  the  inviolate  sea,  shall  be  wafted  to  the  utmost 
shores  of  time,  hailed  alike  by  all  nations  in  all  ages  for 
having  lessened  the  burden  and  prolonged  the  span  of 
human  life."  A  thousand  years  hence,  if  a  student  of 
medicine  shall  ask  who  first  did  ovariotomy,  the  answer 
will  be  prompt  and  unequivocal.     As  a  result  of  this  self- 


TRIBUTE   TO  EPHRAIM  MC DO  WELL. 


4.21 


sacrificing  life  and  marvellous  achievements  there  goes 
forth  a  benediction  to  every  home  in  the  civilized  world ; 
from  every  hearthstone  in  Christendom  there  returns  a 
blessing  to  the  memory  and  resting-place  of  Ephraim 
McDowell.  All  honor  to  this  honest,  great,  wise,  heroic, 
good,  kind,  gracious,  loving,  and  lovable  man  ! 

[Published   by  permission  of  Joseph  Eastman,  M.D. 
— The  Author.] 


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1897 

J 

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